The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
LOCAL passion fruit farmers are set to export their produce to highly lucrative markets in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The development is expected to play a major role in enhancing the country’s capacity to become an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
Currently, local passion fruit farmers are exporting mainly to European Union (EU) markets.
Mr Anglistone Sibanda, the chief executive officer of Green Afrique Technologies, an agricultural, marketing and research firm that is playing a leading role in the marketing and outgrowing of passion fruit in the country, announced the signing of a deal between local farmers and a player in the Dubai market.
“We got an interesting deal that will see our farmers supplying the highly lucrative Dubai markets. Apart from the fact that the Dubai prices are more lucrative than the EU markets, we will also be exporting unlimited quantities of passion fruit,” Mr Sibanda said.
Under the agreement, Farmgate, a company whose headquarters are in the United Arab Emirates will, through its local branch, be responsible for the handling and transportation of the product to the UAE.
“The prices and the conditions are favourable to our farmers. All they need to do is to produce. The handling and transportation will be done by an international firm,” added Mr Sibanda.
To match the expected demand, Green Afrique Technologies is currently expanding its out-grower programme with a particular emphasis on emerging young farmers.
An agribusiness development training and recruitment exercise will be held in Harare on November 3.
“We are urging farmers to participate in this programme and make profits, create employment and contribute towards the realisation of the National Development Strategy 1(NDS1) objectives,” he said.
“As the private sector, we keep looking for such opportunities that enhance our economy and make Zimbabwe an upper-middle-class income economy by 2030.”
