The Sunday Mail
Tendai Chara and Livingstone Marufu
It is well past midnight and the only licensed nightclub at Mbare Musika —one of the country’s biggest fresh farm produce market — is filled to the brim.
Among the diverse and noisy crowd are genuine revellers, thieves, scantly-dressed ladies of the night and the numerous homeless people who have turned Mbare Musika into their home.
Huddled in a corner is a group of men who are seemingly pre-occupied with their cellphones. On a regular basis, the men dash out of the noisy bar to make and receive calls. It is apparently clear that this particular group is not only at the bar to enjoy themselves but also to conduct business.
It turns out that the men are the infamous Mbare Musika agriculture market middlemen, better known as makoronyera.
Hated by most farmers, who view them as unscrupulous elements, it is widely believed that makoronyera often make a killing by exploiting farmers.
Farmers argue that the middlemen offer unfair prices and sometimes coerce them to sell their produce at a song.
In an effort to understand how the middlemen go about their business and why they are both hated and loved by the farmers, The Sunday Mail Extra spent time at Mbare Musika, mixing and mingling with the men and women who often determine the prices at the country’s largest farm produce market.
The visit revealed that on a daily basis, hundreds of thousands of dollars exchange hands at the market and that if efforts are made to encourage the farmers to bank, the cash shortages will, to an extent, be eased.
This publication witnessed as a middleman put cash into a sack before whisking it away. Where the money went remain everyone else’s guess.
Although the majority of the farmers spoke against the middlemen, they all agreed that they offer an invaluable service and are, therefore, a necessary devil.
Mr Samuel Katsande, a Mutoko farmer, said although the middlemen offer unfair prices, the farmers can not afford to get rid of them.
“The way these guys run this place is disturbing. They are the ones who determine the prices and they always pay what they want. Apart from negotiating, they sometimes use force and intimidation,” Mr Katsande said.
Mr Katsande said farmers cannot do without the middlemen.
“I came here early in the morning and without wasting time, sold my produce to the middlemen. I could not sell the produce to the retailers since I do not stay in Harare. I must go back home as soon as possible so that I water my garden.”
“Although the middlemen are ripping us, I think they also offer an essential service,” Mr Katsande said.
The middlemen bought Mr Katsande’s sweet potatoes at $3,50 per bucket before reselling them to retailers for $5. A bundle of vegetables bought by the middlemen for $0,70 was sold to retailers for $1,50.
The enterprising middlemen would buy five heads of cabbage for a dollar from the farmers before reselling three heads of the same cabbage for a dollar to the retailers.
Mr Katsande explained what happens when farmers cross the middlemen’s paths.
“When you complain, they will gang up against you and they will make sure that no-one buys your produce. In the end, you will have to beg them to buy your produce,” he said.
Mr Farirai Nyamhute, a farmer from Chihota, blamed the farmers for easily succumbing to the middlemen’s demands.
“I knew very well that the price of onions was more than $1,80 per kilogramme. The middlemen wanted to pay as little as $0,60. I bargained hard until we agreed on $1. Some farmers blindly accept any price offered by the middlemen,” Mr Nyamhute said.
According to Mr Nyamhute, farmers lack knowledge on current prices and the middlemen often take advantage of that.
Some farmers, however, enlist the services of “brokers” who help them negotiate prices with the middlemen for a fee.
Mr Maurice Wozheri is one of the many people who earn a living through negotiating on behalf of the farmers.
“The problem with farmers is that they are not confident and also do not have information regarding current prices. Most of them do not have negotiating skills. Although we help the farmers a lot, some of them think that we also work with the middlemen,” Mr Wozheri said.
Basing on the interactions between this publication and the middlemen, it was clear that the middlemen are very skilled negotiators.
“We are not criminals but professionals. The market determine the prices not us. Farmers must be taught how prices are determined,” a middleman who preferred to be known only as Magaisa said.
Stories regarding the lifestyles of the middlemen, the majority of whom are often seen carrying around wads of cash, are both intriguing and sad.
Whilst others have transformed themselves from poverty to own properties and cars, others often disappear with clients’ money. The money is often spent on booze and women.
But apart from the middlemen, farmers also have to contend with a gang of thieves that is infamously known as “Highlanders”.
The thieves approach the farmers pretending to be genuine buyers.
The infamous “Highlanders” gang members divide themselves into groups. While other members inquire about the produce to distract the farmer from seeing what is really happening, the others steal.
By the time the team leaves, five to six boxes of tomatoes will be gone as they will pass from one person to the other. The farmer is left too confused to know who actually stole his or her goods.
And the farmers, most of whom reside in rural areas, rarely report the gang to the police in fear of victimisation.
Mbare Musika was established in 1907 and is the largest farm produce market in the country. Farmers from as far afield as Mutare, Masvingo and Kariba, among other areas, flock to the market to sell their produce.
According to an agricultural research group, Knowledge Transfer Africa (eMkambo), revenue generated from Mbare Musika every month is estimated to be around $3 million every month. More than 17 000 traders pay $6 every day to sell their produce at the market.
Mr Michael Chideme, the Harare City spokesperson, requested for more time to compile the figures for the money generated at Mbare Musika.
