Chronicle Editor
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
LOCAL business concern, Kuminda is empowering and capacitating small-scale farmers through marketing strategies, branding and packaging, to ensure their products are competitive on export markets.
Kuminda is a multi-national company founded in Zimbabwe and jointly owned by Mr Clarence Mwale and Mr Fred Matenga.
Its main goal is to empower African farmers by linking them with international markets. In an interview, Kuminda’s chief executive officer (CEO), Mr Mwale said small-scale farmers can be strong in economic partnerships.
“Small-scale farmers can play a critical role in producing for the nation’s consumption, producing for export and creating employment. The future of farming is small scale and to ensure that we empower and capacitate the sector, small-scale farmers benefit from Kuminda marketing strategies, branding and packaging,” he said.
Mr Mwale, who is also a Fair Mark Compliance consultant and expert on Global Gap certification, said the critical element to consider in the export business for small-scale farmers was to find a market first and as an organisation they were assisting farmers on that.
He added: “Zimbabwe’s horticultural sector is fast emerging as a major driving force for the development of the agricultural sector in the country. As a farmer, before you grow your horticulture crops for export, find a market first because markets have different sets of standards and mandatory requirements. Another key consideration in export business is not the size of production but the quality of the produce.”
Mr Mwale said smallholder farmers in the country were also benefiting from the space that opened up in the export pea sector as large-scale commercial farmers in Zimbabwe have switched to blueberries.
He said Zimbabwean pea exporters are unable to meet the demand for peas from the United Kingdom and Netherlands this season, which is why now would be a good chance to open a vegetable packing facility to pack the export and local products of smallholder farmers.
Meanwhile, the national trade development and promotion organisation (ZimTrade) continues to capacitate smallholder horticulture farmers’ quest to explore lucrative export markets.
In March, 10 smallholder horticulture farmers visited Netherlands for an appreciation of the European Union (EU) market expectations from the production processes to produce quality.
The visit was under the facilitation of ZimTrade Horticulture Masterclass programme in partnership with PUM and CBZ Holdings, as the programme, which was launched last year aims to strengthen and grow the export capacity of farmers.
The visit was designed to provide farmers with knowledge and skills in growing produce for the EU market. This includes product export requirements, advanced farming practices and insights into the horticultural products in high demand in the EU market.
“The farmers visited well-established organic retail stores, pack houses and horticultural farms in the Netherlands. These visits allowed them to gain valuable insights on how to enhance the quality and value add horticultural produce for the EU market using sustainable farming practices,” explained ZimTrade.
The visit provided the small-scale farmers with an opportunity to expand their knowledge of the EU market’s demands, including products such as blueberries, avocados and stone fruits.
ZimTrade client advisor, Mr Kupakwashe Midzi highlighted the importance of supporting small-scale farmers to gain knowledge and skills to improve their agricultural practices.
“Exports to the EU not only contribute to sustainable export development but also provide the much-needed income and community support for these farmers,” he said.
By diversifying their produce, the farmers can tap into the EU’s growing demand for super foods and organic produce driven by consumers’ increasing health consciousness.
The farmers were impressed by the technologies in greenhouse production and water conservation methods that promote sustainability and address climate change challenges.
Online Reporter
Londile Moyo