The Sunday Mail
The absence of efficient agricultural marketing and export organisations is stalling the growth of farming in the country as farmers are failing to penetrate more lucrative markets due to lack of information regarding the demands of certain markets, it has emerged.
While the country has been one of the biggest exporters of tobacco in the world, the export of other products such as meat, milk and mainly horticultural products, has been declining.
This was after the country lost some international markets, particularly in Europe, due to illegal economic sanctions imposed by Western countries.
According to ZimTrade statistics, the export of horticultural produce such as flowers, food produce and citrus peaked in 1999, generating a combined value of about $250 000.
However, the export reached an all-time low in 2010 after only about $40 000 was realised from exports and up to now, the sector is still struggling to recover. Experts, however, say there are also many markets outside Europe where farmers can take advantage of, if their products are well marketed.
Major pack houses such as Selby, Fresh Trade, Natfresh and Rollex have been exporting some of the country’s horticultural products, but they have been getting supply mainly from already established players.
Experts also say farmers need a body which protects their interests in terms of marketing, regulation and standard setting rather than profit-motivated organisations. The purpose of marketing bodies in agriculture is to source markets for farmers, export on their behalf as well as setting standards which meet the demands of a desired market. However, the Agricultural Marketing Association (AMA), which is the main marketing and regulatory body for agricultural trade within and outside the country, is said to be struggling to efficiently execute its obligations due to lack of funding.
According to farmers, the Horticultural Promotion Council, which used to perform these duties for horticultural farmers, is also no longer sound.
The situation has led most farmers to concentrate on producing for local markets which are, however, less lucrative. They say as long as they cannot supply bigger markets their growth is limited.
“We used to export various horticultural products and a whole lot of other agricultural products to foreign markets like the European Union, but due to political reasons we lost some of those markets,” said Mr Wonder Chabikwa, president of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union.
Mr Chabikwa said now that the situation has relatively changed with markets opening elsewhere in Asia and South America, the absence of sound marketing bodies are particularly hurting them. “We used to have the Horticultural Promotion Council, whose duties were to market our products, setting internationally required standards and even export for us sometimes, but it is no longer functional and it is hard for an individual farmer to do all of that on his own.
“We are capable of producing the quality they require in Europe and elsewhere, but because of the high cost of production we cannot produce much because we will be competing with countries with a low production cost.”
Mr Chabikwa said it was imperative that the HPC and AMA be revived so that consumers can regain trust with the Zimbabwean produce.
Research shows that increasing exports reduces the national import bill as well as boosting revenue for Government and the economy at large.
Exporting and supplying bigger markets will help farmers acquire more revenue which in turn will help them expand their operations.
Although Mr Chabikwa said the failure by farmers to export is down to challenges of producing enough, experts suggest that most farmers in the country lack information on strategies to market their products. They say besides losing markets in the European Union, farmers can still benefit from markets in India, Asia and South America. Agricultural research expert Mr Dominic Mubvuta said local farmers should take advantage of voluntary regulatory organs such as the GlobalG.A.P. to get recognition on the international markets and sell their produce easily.
GlobalG.A.P., which stands for Good Agricultural Practice, is a global organisation which sets voluntary standards for the certification of agricultural products around the world.
More producers, suppliers and buyers are harmonising their certification standards to match the GlobalG.A.P. to get recognition from other stakeholders. However, very few farmers in the country have joined the GlobalG.A.P. initiative and are struggling to penetrate certain foreign markets.
“We should exploit and take advantage of regional markets and international markets. The GlobalG.A.P. is one avenue we can use to do that,” said Mr Mubvuta. “Its standards are demanding and can be too much for starting farmers, but once you get the certification you will enjoy the benefits.”
Mr Mubvuta said some markets are particular about the type of chemicals used as fertiliser and pesticides.
He said if farmers are not aware of such facts they can lose markets as these chemicals can be detected in the end product. Kenya lost significant markets for its peas after they were found to be containing too much chemical components. Mr Mubvuta encouraged farmers to start with LocalG.A.P. which is the capacity building for local farmers to graduate into the GlobalG.A.P.
“LocalG.A.P. is capacity building for GlobalG.A.P., when farmers fully master this one they go on to the GlobalG.A.P.,” he said. Regulatory researcher and analysts with USAidD/Zim-ACP Shamiso Nyikayaramba concurred with Mr Mubvuta, saying the programme is of benefit to small-scale farmers who cannot produce in huge volumes. Nyikayaramba also encouraged farmers to come up with their own local standards regulatory board to improve their produce
“Self-regulation is a winner because it sets a clear benchmark. It is a faster route to legal commitments than the slow pace of law making,” she said.
Nyikayaramba said standards regulatory organs can boost revenue, but added that waiting for Government would take longer. However, Mr Chabikwa said while the GlobalG.A.P. is a good initiative, it is too stringent for most local farmers, adding that it hinges on the EuropeanG.A.P., whose bias towards Zimbabwe is political.
“GlobalG.A.P. is good but it’s too stringent. I do not think most of our farmers will be able to get the certification. The other thing is that it hinges on the EuropeanG.A.P. and already the Europeans are shunning our products,” he said. The Government’s marketing arm (AMA) should now be leading us in marketing our products to foreign markets.”
Experts, however, say farmers should consider forming export consortiums as they can help create synergies with the international market.
Export consortiums are agricultural co-operatives between farmers who combine to export their products and the concept is particularly of advantage to upcoming farmers.
Farmers are also encouraged to participate in regional and international trade fairs to enable the country’s agriculture sector to recover. Research, however, shows that farmers are also failing to export because they cannot produce enough with the national output of cotton, wheat and meat continuing to decline.
Efforts to get a comment from AMA were fruitless as questions sent to its CEO, Mr Rockie Mutenha, were yet to be responded to by the time of going to print.
