Bakers to set up wheat value chain board

ZIMBABWEAN bakers will next month hold a congress, which is expected to set up the Zimbabwe Wheat board, an official has said. National Bakers Association president Givemore Mesoemvura said setting up of the board was decided at a conference held last month. “In March we held a conference, which made a resolution that we come up with a board that regulates the activities of our value chain.

“We were given permission to set up that board for the value chain,” he said. Mesoemvura said the Zimbabwe Wheat Board was in the process of being set up. “So we’ll be having a congress in May that will launch the Zimbabwe Wheat Board,” he said.

He said the board had an immediate task of coming up with beneficial bread value chain decisions. “This one will focus on wheat to bread value chain and try to come up with amicable positions and harmony for the whole value chain for the baking industry,” he said.

About 107 bakeries closed shop over the past five years due to the harsh operating environment which was precipitated by illegal sanctions that Western countries imposed in retaliation for agrarian reforms which the government initiated to address a colonial land ownership legacy that favoured whites. The bakery industry is a critical part of the Zimbabwean economy, accounting for 2.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product. — New Ziana.