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Elton Manguwo
THE Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange (ZMX) has embarked on a nationwide farmer training programme on the warehouse receipt system to increase their awareness of the way the system works and how they can utilise this commodities exchange platform.
In an interview yesterday, ZMX business development manager Chiedza Saungweme said the idea was to train farmers on structured grain trading and standards.
ZMX is working closely with Agritex and lead farmers as the country intensifies efforts to bridge knowledge gaps that have frustrated farmers’ efforts to operate effectively in the absence of useful information.
“Agritex has selected the lead farmers that are being trained. The farmers will be capacitated to also train and educate their colleagues on the warehouse receipting system,” observed Saungweme.
The programme has so far been rolled out in Gokwe North, Mbire, Zaka and Mutare with the ultimate goal of making it national and cover all the eight rural provinces.
Saungweme added: “The organisation embarked on the training programme to draw the attention of farmers to the various crop that ZMX is trading. This will allow them to also enjoy the same benefits as their counterparts.”
The World Bank, working with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is bankrolling the training workshops.
A warehouse receipt system is a process where farmers deposit their products in certified warehouses and the farmer will be given a warehouse receipt as proof of ownership.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is pushing for the adoption of best business practices in the agricultural sector. The adoption of the warehouse receipt system can help further practices such as capital sourcing using agriculture produce as collateral for bank loans.
In addition, ZMX recently added wheat to a list of commodities on their trading platform to facilitate safe and secure trading and financing of the cereal.
Warehouse receipts are an important and effective tool for creating liquidity and easing access to credit. More importantly, such schemes offer additional benefits such as smoothing the supply and prices in the market, improving grower incomes.
The receipt system is critically important in addressing food shortages inspired by post-harvest losses that usually affect small-scale farmers and hamper them farmers from increasing production.
Online Reporter