The Sunday Mail
There is now a shift towards organic fruits and vegetables
THE decision to focus on organic farming has proved to be a life-changing and lucrative venture for a consortium of budding entrepreneurs in Matabeleland South province.
Started four years ago, the Matshetshe Food Processing and Value Addition Centre in Gwanda is raking in annual revenues of US$1 million from selling agricultural products grown by natural means.
The consortium currently grows groundnuts, vegetables and sorghum on a two-hectare garden before processing, packaging and distributing the produce on the domestic market, according to MD Mr Charity Ndlovu.
Schools, individuals and shops around Gwanda form part of the project’s clients.
Each month, the Centre produces at least 1 360 litres of peanut butter, 200kg of dried vegetables, 700kg of dried kapenta and over five tonnes of sorghum mealie-meal.
Grossing an estimated US$74 000 monthly, which translates to US$300 for each of the 247 members, the project earns each farmer five times more than they used to realise as individual subsistence maize farmers.
“Before the Centre was established in 2011, the community had challenges in marketing its produce. It was difficult to make profits from (the) sale of produce because farmers spent more money transporting produce to Gwanda town,” Mr Ndlovu told The Sunday Mail Business in a recent interview.
However, the group’s exposure to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair has changed its fortunes.
“We want to supply our produce to as far as Dubai. We already got the orders from hoteliers there.
“Right now we supply our products to local schools in Gwanda and surrounding areas; now, we want to tap into hospitals and clinics. We have the necessary skills to produce, all we would require is funding to improve on production volumes,” explained Mr Ndlovu.
Organic farming avoids the use of chemicals.
There is a growing and vast worldwide market for such natural produce, particularly at a time when the appeal of genetically modified food is waning.
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, demand for organic products has created new export opportunities for developing countries like Zimbabwe.
As a result, many countries have begun exporting organic products such as tropical fruits, vegetables and herbs.
“Typically, organic exports are sold at impressive premiums, often at 20 percent higher than identical products produced on non-organic farms,” reads part of the FAO report on organic agriculture.
Matshetshe Centre was established in 2011 in Matshetshe communal lands in Nkwidze, Gwanda with an initial 600 members, who have since shrunk to 247 members.
It started off as an initiative supported by the Dabane Water Workshops and Christian Aid under a Programme Partnership Agreement to provide services in food processing and value addition.
Apart from food processing, the Centre now provides market linkages between local farmers and surrounding areas.
“The Centre has created employment opportunities for the local community, now we can sustain ourselves and send our children to school without much difficulty,” added Mr Ndlovu.
Plans are underway to broaden the product range to include honey, as well as to increase sorghum mealie-meal volumes.
But perennial poor rains in the region present a major challenge.
As part of efforts to impart skills to small farmers and link them with regional markets, the Centre is working with strategic partners such as Empretec Zimbabwe, who constantly provide training in business management.
“There has been an improvement in product quality from the Centre since they started participating in local and regional fairs. Our aim is to provide skills they can use to improve their lives and their communities, be able to start their own businesses and create employment.
“Currently some SMEs lack the confidence to start their own businesses and skills to manage them professionally, yet there is a lot of potential on their part,” said Empretec monitoring and evaluation officer Mr Lungani Dube.
Matshetshe Centre is considered one of the success stories of Empretec’s training initiatives.
