Online Reporter
Lovemore Kadzura
Post Reporter
THE Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) has stepped in to resolve a major marketing bottleneck for thousands of sugar beans farmers across Manicaland, deploying a direct intervention strategy to connect producers with lucrative corporate and institutional buyers.
By bridging the critical gap between farmgate supplies and commercial markets, the regulatory authority’s market-linking initiative seeks to eliminate predatory middlemen, stabilise depressed farmgate prices, and secure fair financial returns for agricultural households.
The intervention comes at a critical time for smallholder producers in Chipinge and Chimanimani districts, where a market glut had left hundreds of metric tonnes of high-quality sugar beans uncollected at major irrigation schemes.
The absence of reliable off-takers had raised genuine concerns over post-harvest losses and forced several farmers to contemplate scaled-back production, despite the crop’s recognised potential to boost rural incomes and enhance rural food security. Without structured market access or adequate long-term storage facilities, many producers had succumbed to panic selling, disposing of their harvest to informal intermediaries at severely discounted rates to cover immediate household expenses and fund upcoming seasonal inputs. At Nyanyadzi Irrigation Scheme in Chimanimani Ward Eight, Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (Agritex) officer, Mr Fisher Chavhanga, said distribution hurdles were eroding the profitability of heavily invested farming operations.
“We have managed to produce good-quality sugar beans, but the biggest challenge is finding buyers. Farmers are sometimes forced to accept whatever price is offered because they need money to meet household expenses and prepare for the next farming season.
Sugar beans usually fetch around US$1 200 per tonne, but this year some buyers are offering as low as US$800. Right now farmers at this scheme are stuck with over 150 tonnes of sugar beans. In the past, large corporates used to contract and buy the produce, and this offered a sustainable business operation,” said Mr Chavhanga. Similar challenges persist at the Chibuwe Irrigation Scheme Bloc C, where farmer, Mr Edmore Mabika, urged authorities to establish direct linkages with agro-processors and facilitate access to international markets.
“We are still holding on to sugar beans harvested in July 2026. Buyers are claiming that there is an oversupply of sugar beans on the market, and offering low prices. Only one buyer is offering just US$0,90 per kilogramme, whereas the fair price should be US$1,20. Despite the low prices, the buyer is taking very limited stock. We appeal to authorities to assist us with export processes so that we do not lose out to middlemen,” said Mr Mabika.
Mr Mabika noted that price volatility extends beyond field crops to horticulture, with tomato prices dropping from US$35 per box to under US$10, underscoring the urgent need for cold storage infrastructure in Manicaland to prevent premature crop liquidation.
Responding to the crisis, Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) marketing and public relations manager, Ms Tina Nleya, reassured producers that commercial demand for sugar beans remains strong across national off-takers.
She urged farmers to adopt market-led agricultural practices and register early with the authority to streamline off-take coordination.
“From information currently available to our teams on the ground, AMA had not formally received reports indicating that farmers in these areas were failing to secure markets for their produce. There may therefore be a communication gap, and we encourage affected farmers to engage our provincial team so that we can establish the quantities available, their locations, and facilitate the necessary market linkages,” said Ms Nleya.
Ms Nleya confirmed that AMA is actively coordinating with commercial buyers prepared to absorb local supply. “AMA has been engaging various buyers who have indicated readiness to procure sugar beans. We therefore want to assure farmers that market opportunities do exist and our role is to help bridge the information and coordination gap between producers and potential buyers. We encourage farmers to engage AMA as early as possible, preferably before production, rather than waiting until produce is ready for sale,” she added.
