Tapiwanashe Mangwiro

Electricity supply is becoming a central consideration in Zimbabwe’s agricultural development plans, with the power utility working with government to anticipate rising demand from irrigation, processing and other activities across the sector.

The National Agriculture Conference and Expo 2026 heard that the country’s agricultural ambitions could not be achieved without corresponding investment in electricity infrastructure and alternative generation.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the Conference, ZESA’s Engineer John Chikeya said the energy sector’s role was to support the expansion of productive sectors, particularly agriculture.

“As ZETDC, we are a key developer. Our success is not reflected in our success. It’s reflected in the success of those that we support,” he said.

He said the government had brought the agriculture and energy ministries together through an inter-ministerial committee to align power supply with agricultural development.

“We then established an inter-ministerial committee in the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Energy to say, this is what you want. This is what we have. How can we get there?” he said.

One of the outcomes has been the recognition of electricity as a key agricultural input.

“Through the inter-ministerial committee, it was agreed that electricity was going to be treated as a key input,” Engineer Chikeya said.

This is significant as Zimbabwe expands irrigation and seeks to increase agricultural output. Irrigation systems require dependable electricity for pumping, while processing, refrigeration and other agricultural value-chain activities also depend on consistent power.

The utility said the reduction in disruptions experienced by the agricultural sector was the result of greater coordination and technical consistency.

“It’s just the technical consistency that comes with the availability of electricity,” Engineer Chikeya said.

But maintaining that progress remains a challenge.

Zimbabwe’s power system remains exposed to fluctuations in hydroelectric generation, particularly at Kariba, while ageing infrastructure requires continued rehabilitation and reinforcement.

“In terms of the security of supply, we are failing. But we are not yet out of that,” he said.

The challenge has increased the urgency of diversifying the country’s electricity mix.

Distributed solar generation is already making a growing contribution, with the panel reporting that installed distributed generation had reached 147MW.

“And that means that Zimbabwe are now contributing to the energy security,” Engineer Chikeya said.

The utility is also looking at mechanisms that would allow more households and businesses to generate electricity and feed it into the grid.

The development of advanced net metering could create opportunities for private investment in small-scale electricity generation while increasing the amount of power available to the national system.

However, farmers at the conference highlighted another major issue — the cost of electricity.

Delegates argued that high electricity tariffs increase production costs and ultimately affect the competitiveness of agricultural products.

Engineer Chikeya acknowledged the concern but said tariff reductions had to be implemented alongside improvements in the reliability of supply.

“We are very conscious of the pain that comes from a high tariff, and we have a trajectory to then reduce it,” he said.

He cautioned that lowering tariffs without resolving the underlying infrastructure challenges could undermine the reliability of supply.

“We don’t want to reduce the tariff today and then bring back load shedding,” he said.

The utility is therefore pursuing a longer-term approach centred on network rehabilitation, additional generation and greater use of alternative energy.

For agriculture, the issue extends beyond simply keeping the lights on. Reliable electricity is increasingly necessary for irrigation, processing and value addition as Zimbabwe seeks to move towards a more productive and commercially oriented agricultural sector.

Engineer Chikeya said the energy sector would need to continue working with agriculture to anticipate future demand.

“We need to continue with the relationship where we plan together and anticipate the growth in demand in the agricultural sector so that we prepare adequately to continue supporting that,” he said.

The message from the conference was that agricultural expansion and energy planning will increasingly need to move together, with investment in generation and distribution becoming an important part of the country’s broader agricultural transformation agenda.