Precious Manomano
Herald Reporter
GROWING demand for agroecologically produced food is creating opportunities for farmers, but producers are struggling to access suitable markets, prompting calls for dedicated spaces where consumers can easily find and buy organic produce.
Producers and agroecology advocates say clearly identified market spaces would help bridge the gap between farmers and consumers while enabling producers to secure better returns.
The call was made in Harare last week during a capacity-building training on Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) organised by PELUM Zimbabwe under the African Agroecological Entrepreneurship (AAE) Initiative.
PELUM Zimbabwe programmes officer, Ms Farirai Jemwa, said PGS could help build consumer confidence in agroecological products by promoting transparency and trust between producers and consumers.
“A participatory guarantee system is a practical tool for building trust, transparency and credibility between producers and consumers,” she said.
Ms Jemwa said PGS could also help consumers distinguish organic produce from conventionally produced food, particularly in territorial and local markets.
“We see PGS as a solution to how we can demarcate organic produce from conventional produce, especially in the territorial markets and local food markets that we are speaking of now,” she said.
She called for greater recognition of vendors and producers involved in organic production and the creation of dedicated spaces for their products.
“We also need our vendors and producers to also be seen and recognised as organic producers. We also want a specific area within this territorial market where people know of organic produce, where they can be able to sell their certified organic produce,” said Ms Jemwa.
Zoronemugoti founder Ms Zororo Taruvinga, said farmers needed to identify markets before production to avoid producing food without knowing where it would be sold.
“The main issue is about the market. We are learning more about finding the market first so that when we farm, we get the actual prices we are supposed to get, so there is a win-win for the farmer and also for the person who is actually getting it,” she said.
Ms Taruvinga said agroecological producers needed dedicated markets that could connect them with consumers interested in their products.
“We are looking for markets themselves that have spaces for us to be able to sell,” she said.
Chimani Delights manager, Mr Moses Chimedza, said market acceptance remained a challenge, with some consumers still favouring conventionally produced food.
“There is a challenge whereby we have farmers producing products but they are not readily accepted on the market because people feel the conventional is the best way,” he said.
Chimani Delights is involved in value addition of honey, baobab and traditional vegetables, including munyemba and muboora.
Mr Chimedza said greater adoption of agroecology could help farmers build resilience to climate-related challenges while promoting traditional crops such as small grains.
“What we are basically looking at here is how we can help or push the agricultural principles that we work with, especially trying to see that we embrace agroecology in the face of El Niño that is forthcoming,” he said.
Goromonzi farmer, Mrs Lucia Sora, is among producers practising agroecological farming.
She grows cowpeas and groundnuts using manure and is also involved in value addition.
The training brought together farmers, Government ministries, market actors, traders and vendors to discuss ways of integrating agroecology and PGS into territorial markets.
The AAE Initiative seeks to strengthen policy engagement and advocacy for the recognition and integration of agroecological entrepreneurship and territorial markets into Zimbabwe’s policy frameworks.
