The Sunday News
Johnsias Mutonhori, Sunday News Correspondent
WHILE everyone can acknowledge that agriculture is leading Zimbabwe back to the breadbasket status in Africa following Government programmes such as command agriculture and Intwasa/Pfumvudza, market-oriented farming is proving to be a serious issue in the sector in which farmers need to be enlightened.
Zimbabwe and broadly, the Southern African region is now approaching the end of the rainy season. Crop harvesting is now in full swing, mainly by farmers in grain crop production. This is supposed to be the period of celebration, a stage where farmers feel relieved after a long struggle to do everything required when rains are still available, relieved after battling with pests and crop related diseases.
Ultimately this is also the time when farmers are supposed to be ready to enjoy the profits after injecting a lot of money in the land. However, it is also a time when some farmers struggle to identify the market of their produce.
Some farmers start to face unexpected disappointments, either by failing to get a market for their produce, struggling to reach the market as well as getting unfavourable prices from unscrupulous buyers.
To some farmers who are into perishable crops such as vegetables and tomatoes, the reaping period becomes the period they are gripped by fears of uncertainties and of losing their produce before getting to the market.
It is again disappointing that; some agricultural produce is sold at give-away prices which is literally a loss and a sad reality faced by many farmers in Zimbabwe.
This however, makes capacity building about markets a priority to consider in the agriculture value chain.
Speaking in a side interview during a stakeholder project management training in Gweru recently, programme co-ordinator for smallholder irrigation agriculture revitalisation, a Government initiative which is being funded by International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), Mr Odrek Mukorera said, the main objective of the programme is to educate farmers so that they can produce for the market in order to realise profits.
“On our programme there is a component we call Climate Smart Agriculture and Market Access where we say after rehabilitating irrigation schemes, we need to make sure that they’re sustainable. The reasons why farmers fail is not necessary all due to infrastructure but issues such as types of crops they are growing.
“Are they really going to make money out of those crops and where are they going to get markets after producing whatever they are producing? So, we’re trying to make sure that farmers produce for a market, produce profitably and they are taught how to run farming as a business and that’s an important component that we want to see streaming to this community, ‘’ said Mr Mukorera.
Midlands Agritex Provincial Crop and Livestock officer Mrs Medlinah Magwenzi said the market outlook on crops and horticulture in Zimbabwe is not lucrative citing various challenges faced by farmers.
Mrs Magwezi pointed out that transport is key in the agriculture value chain emphasizing that farmers must consider how they would reach the market before they record losses especially on perishable products.
“Farmers have challenges in transporting their produce and it takes long to reach the market and if its perishable it becomes a loss. They therefore need to have a consistent mode of transport and have good road infrastructure that can attract buyers to come on site. Farmers need to produce for a market, not produce to sell,” said Mrs Magwenzi.
She also pointed out that farmers must focus on maximizing quality so that they would not struggle to market their products. She cited the need for adequate resources to support crop production processes so as to produce the best quality required by the market.
“Farmers fail to secure a consistent market because they use inadequate resources for a product. This leads to a substandard product which is difficult to sell in a big market. Some farmers have a lot of market sources around them but their product is not marketable.
“At the same time there are uncompetitive market prices. The product might be good but the price is very low,” she said.
Mrs Magwenzi also advised farmers that they have to examine the whole production process before they start planting.
“Farmers are advised to do market research before putting crops on the ground, ascertain prices, quality, quantity and market. For example, farmers might sell tomatoes until they all go bad and lose so much.
“It is prudent for the farmers to have good storage of their produce with cold chain to sell fresh required produce according to size, quantity, quality through grading. The same product could be sold to three different markets according to the grade needed by the buyer.”
She also added that farmers need to work with reputable markets, adding that there is a need to consult extension workers for advice and try to eliminate middlemen.
“Farmers have lost so much to the middlemen who buy ungraded products then later regrade and get a lot more than farmers. It would yield better to have fair shares from a healthy value chain management. There is a need to work closely with extension staff for knowledge, market linkages, market information sources, daily market prices updates and so forth. This will empower the farmer to produce for a market and a product with a price from the producer.
“They also need assistance on product storage, for example wheat, some of it could be kept in a moist place then the farmer can lose the product to fungi or rot. This definitely might affect the price at the end of the day.”
Mrs Magwenzi said farmers need to adapt to technology. They also need knowledge in quality control and packaging, price risk management, market led extension and good perception on contract farming.
Mr Charles Mpofu, a Kwekwe wheat and soya beans farmer sighted challenges such as transport costs to ferry their produce to the market.
He said as a farmer he did not have power to determine the price of his produce highlighting that, the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) imposes prices on them.
“Most of our produce we take to GMB and they are the ones who determine the prices, therefore we have no control as farmers. The biggest challenge is on our horticulture products. The market on crops like tomatoes and vegetables is now flooded. So, at times you might not find the market.
