The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure Senior Farming Reporter —
MAJOR effort should be made to resuscitate production of export crops such as coffee and tea, deciduous fruits and horticultural crops that were neglected over the years given their rising demand on the international market.
In a wide ranging interview with The Manica Post, Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made, said tropical crops, deciduous fruits and horticulture produce have huge potential to generate foreign currency for the nation, but have been grossly neglected over years.
Emphasis should be on export crops and the revival of the fruit industry will cut down on fruit imports.
Demand for fruits will always be there due to their high nutritional content that plays a pivotal role improving people’s health conditions.
Tree crops also play an important role in promoting agro-forestry systems.
Manicaland region, which lies in the east of the country, is characterised by rainfall of more than 1000 mm per year, low temperatures, high altitude, steep slopes, good soils and a consistent water supply which are ideal for tropical crops such as coffee and tea, deciduous fruits such as bananas, peaches, grapefruits, lemons, naartijies, nectarines, oranges, mangoes, avocado pears and apples and horticultural crops such as potatoes, peas and other vegetables as well as flowers such as proteas, roses, asters and chrysanthemums.
Growing fruit does not begin with the planting of a seedling, nor end with the harvesting of fruit, but include careful selection of fruit types and varieties, choosing the right site and its preparation are key elements in success with these perennial plants.
Once established, fruit crops from strawberries to apples require regular maintenance if they are to remain healthy and productive.
Dr Made said Zimbabwe crops have an edge over those from other countries because they are not genetically engineered.
“Our environment is clean and this gives us an edge on the international market. This calls for us to lay a solid foundation by reviving critical infrastructure for production of these crops such as irrigation equipment, planting material, nurseries and green houses, among others,” said Dr Made.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has set aside $20 million to revive the horticulture sector in a bid to ameliorate productivity and economic recovery.
RBZ Governor, Dr John Mangudya, also said horticulture should be rejuvenated to its original status when it was the second largest foreign currency earner after tobacco, contributing an average four percent of Gross Domestic Product.
At its peak in 1999, horticulture generated about US$142m, with Zimbabwe coming third after the Netherlands and Israel in the flower production industry.
Dr Made said new fruit orchards could be developed along the Mutare-Harare Highway.
“The stretch of land on either side of the highway, stretching from Mutare to Headlands can be developed into fruit orchards. What is critical though is ensuring that infrastructure which had been developed is resuscitated,” said Dr Made.
Orchards can be developed at subsistence, commercial level and export market level. Production for the export market actually compliments the local market as according to the rule of thumb, 50 percent of product grown for the export market is exported.
Farmers market their fresh fruits through supply to wholesalers in urban markets, municipal markets such as Mbare, Renkini, Sakubva, Kudzanai and Mucheke in urban areas, directly to retail outlets, hotels, restaurants, schools and hospitals, among others, sell directly from the farmer or roadside stalls and street vending.
Coffee used to be the country’s fifth foreign currency earner, with over 95 percent of total production being exported.
The national coffee sector development strategy envisages a vibrant coffee sector by reviving and boosting production in former and new growing areas.
The strategy requires US$61.593 million to be implemented over a five-year period, with 74.5 percent (US$45.883 million) being required in the first two years.
Projects within the strategy include the maintenance of existing coffee plantations, establishment of 4,700ha of coffee with participation of about 30 percent women and 20 percent youth farmers; an appropriate funding model, infrastructure development (including rehabilitation and maintenance of existing), value addition; i.e. coffee roasting; participatory Market Systems Development (PMSD); promoting the branding of Zimbabwean coffee; strengthening research and extension on coffee and capacitating coffee farming communities.
Zimbabwe has the ability and is known to produce very high quality mild washed Arabica coffee, noted for its balanced acidity, body and consistent quality.
Zimbabwe used to export about 85 percent of its flowers to the Netherlands, while about 90 percent of the total fresh vegetables landed in Britain, South Africa, Zambia and Namibia and 80 percent of fruits were consumed by British and South African markets.
Currently, Zimbabwe is importing fruits like apples, pears, plum, peach apricots, nectarine and grape from South Africa.
Horticultural production plummeted from 142 000 tonnes in 1999 to 39 175 tonnes in 2010.
The 2012 Zimtrade Report on horticulture cited challenges blighting the sector as power outages which grossly affect fresh produce exports because they require certain temperatures to be maintained and also affect irrigation of the crops.
Labour shortages, compounded by low wages affected production because most farm workers opted for gold and diamond panning as a source of livelihood.
The highly technical and labour intensive enterprise requires very high start up costs especially for new farmers, infrastructure like greenhouses, cold rooms and working capital, of which many farmers cannot afford as the whole agricultural industry requires massive investment in infrastructure and support from the banking sector.
Dilapidated irrigation infrastructure and stringent phyto-sanitary demands or measures on quality, food safety and hygiene especially from Europe have also led to the collapse of the sector.
Access to finance has been the biggest bottle-neck in the sector mainly because of the absence of a land market which prevents financial institutions from granting loans to farmers because there is little or no collateral to support loans.
The expansion of the horticulture industry will have a positive impact on various other industries, both domestic and foreign.
