Major horticulture conference planned

Precious Manomano-Herald Reporter

Efforts to revive and grow the horticulture sector continue to gather steam, with a historic conference to discuss opportunities for the sector and how to tackle emerging challenges set to be held next month.

The Horticulture Development Council (HDC), which represents the country’s horticulture growers, will host the forum at ART Farm in north Harare. 

It will run under the theme: “Opportunities in the field, in policy and all the way to the bank.’’

The HDC Investment Forum comes at a time the Government has launched the Horticultural Recovery and Growth Plan (HRGP), which is part of a broader strategy to transform agriculture into a US$8,2 billion sector by 2025.

 At the HDC Investment Forum, farmers and investors will have the opportunity to interact with policymakers.

Among the confirmed speakers are Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development DR Anxious Masuka and of Finance and Investment Promotion Prof Mthuli Ncube.

This is the second such forum, after last year’s debut event that drew strong interest from across the industry. 

Hundreds of leading growers from Zimbabwe will be joined by industry experts from Kenya, South Africa and Europe to discuss pertinent issues affecting the sector.

 The forum will also look at trends in sub-sectors such as blueberries, citrus and coffee while providing a platform for interaction with potential investors.

HDC chief executive officer Mrs Linda Nielsen said the 2023 HDC Investment Forum was coming at a critical time for the industry.

Vast new opportunities have opened up for the Zimbabwean horticulture sector, but urgent solutions are needed to clear policy hurdles that are preventing the industry from taking full advantage of these opportunities to grow the sector.

“This is a major event on Zimbabwe’s agriculture calendar,” said Mrs Nielsen. “The investment forum brings together our growers, experts from various fields of horticulture, investors, and policymakers. The horticulture sector is central to our country’s economic growth. 

“For our industry to fully develop to its potential, significant investment is required. We will discuss solutions to some of the most pressing constraints such as access to financing, the policy environment, climate change and energy.” 

Government’s policies meant to grow the horticulture sector are now bearing fruits as the sub-sector continues to contribute immensely under the agricultural sector.

So far the sub-sector is generating US$70 million up from the US$30 million being produced in recent years. 

The Government is targeting to generate export proceeds of US$143 million from horticulture by the end of 2024.

Last year, the Government launched a US$30 million horticulture export revolving fund to enhance the horticulture sector’s contribution to the growth of the country’s export earnings and economic growth. The funding was basically focusing on supporting horticulture farmers and those involved in exports.

The Crop, Livestock and Fisheries Assessment report (CLAFA) 2 for the 2022/23 summer season that was recently issued by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development indicates that there was an overall increase in production of horticultural crops for the last season.

 The report showed that production of blueberries increased significantly by 69 percent from 3 420 tonnes to 5 787 tonnes.

Zimbabwe Indigenous Women Farmers Association Trust president, Mrs Depinah Nkomo said there was need for empowerment of smallholder farmers on infrastructural development and market requirements.

 “Smallholder farmers, especially women, require irrigation infrastructure so that they can produce high value crops throughout the year. Some of the women have the zeal to produce but lack technical expertise and do not have adequate information on the market requirements,” she said.

Glen View florist Mr Tamuka Marowa added that improved access to markets and the provision of loans through a revolving fund would play a critical role in supporting the horticulture sector.

 “There is a need to implement various initiatives to ensure the horticulture sector is indeed flourishing countywide and farmers should meet and share knowledge and skills on how best they can boost the sector’s performance,’’ he said.