The new administrative building and campus that are currently under construction for Marondera University of Agricultural Science and Technology (MUAST) in Zimbabwe, on Cloverhill farm, near Grasslands High School, about 7 kilometres from Marondera town, are reportedly taking form.
MUAST vice-chancellor Professor Justice Nyamangara during a recent media tour of the site in Marondera said that the building project is moving well despite the setbacks caused by funding issues. The university is now headquartered in the Cold Storage Commission headquarters in Marondera’s industrial sector.
Work done so far at the new campus for MUAST in Zimbabwe
The main campus’s foundation has already been built, and workers will shortly begin installing the pillars that will support the entire edifice. On the agricultural front, MUAST, Zimbabwe’s only fully-fledged agricultural institution, is placing 140 acres of land under wheat that will be irrigated using water from the recently completed Muchekeranwa Dam. Six centre pivots have already been erected for this purpose.
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Meanwhile, the university’s agro-industrial park is moving forward after the government provided cash to equip the innovation and agro-industrial park with cutting-edge irrigation infrastructure and equipment. The agro-industrial park is a result of the government’s new strategic policy, which requires universities and other higher institutions to be innovation and industrialisation drivers for the production of products and services for the economy.
The MUAST Agro-Industrial Park’s principal mission is to lead agricultural practices that encompass the whole value chain of livestock and crops in adopting the Education 5.0 model. The park will be utilised as a teaching laboratory for students, where they will be exposed to highly mechanised and precision farming, ensuring that they will be highly proficient in agricultural and livestock production upon graduation.
