Andrew
Don Makanyanga, recently in HONDE VALLEY
THE Eastern Highlands is synonymous with many things – tourism, mountains and steep roads – but when the name “Honde Valley” is mentioned, a yearning for bananas is instantly felt.
In this part of the country, farmers are rising against all the odds, with their banana crop ventures.
As a convoy of trucks huff and puff as they meander the steep edges of valleys roads, it’s apparent the brisk business of the fresh farm produce, along the major shopping centers of Honde Valley.
While we initially thought the farmers were striking gold from the golden fruit, the reality of the story is that middle-men from big cities and towns are ripping off the farmers into selling their produce for peanuts.
The price of bananas ranges from US$0,30-US$0,50 per kilogram as competition is stiff.
83 kilometers away from the country’s fourth biggest city, Mutare, in the Mupangwa area of the Mutasa District in Honde Valley, there is 32-year-old banana farmer Brighton Nezomba, who decided to venture into value addition of bananas three years ago.
The young farmer, who now doubles as an entrepreneur, has mastered the art of value adding bananas and now enjoys the big returns.
“I created a company called Nezox Brands, which is a banana production and processing company in Honde Valley that specialises in value addition.
“In 2019, we discovered that a lot of smallholder farmers are losing a chunk of their produce due to high post-harvest losses, so we tried to create a solution for them so that they can fully harness their bananas for the market.
“A kilogramme of banana in Honde Valley is being sold for US$0,20 cents, yet a kilogramme of flour is going for an average of US$2,” said Nezomba.
Having inherited a two-hectare piece of land from her grandmother in 2009, Nezomba started making some savings from the small income that he realised selling raw bananas, with eyes set on getting a place at a farming college.
He later enrolled at Kushinga Phikelela Polytechnic College in Marondera where studied a Diploma in Commercial Farming, with a sole purpose of becoming an employer.
“I inherited a banana farm from my grandmother in 2009, and from the little proceeds I got I enrolled for a place at an agricultural school.
“After completing my Diploma in Commercial Farming in 2018 at Kushinga Phikelela Polytechnic, my only motive was to be an employer and not an employee,” said Nezomba.
Hurt by the low prices of bananas in his home area, and as innovative as he was, Nezomba founded Nezox Brands in 2019.
The company already employs dozens of youths in his village, while 50 smallholder farmers are also benefiting.
“The money that we were getting from the banana companies that came to buy bananas from us was so little, and this was how I thought of how I could increase my income from banana farming.
“I did a trial run of banana flour and ripe dried bananas for the market.
“The trial run was successful, as we found an untapped opportunity as most companies have been focusing on wheat flour.
“Currently I am working with more than 60 smallholder farmers in Honde Valley, which are offering a ready market for their raw quality banana material products for banana flour and ripe dried bananas,” he said.
He spoke on uptake of the value-addedproduct:
“We have since launched our product and it has been well received in the market. What we are now looking forward to is to penetrate the supermarkets,” said Nezomba.
With the young entrepreneur enjoying the fruits of value addition, he continues to seek more ways of getting more out of bananas.
“In partnership with Manicaland University, we are currently doing a trial run of how we can extract fiber and banana oil, which can be used for cosmetic purposes.
“We also working on a trial run on banana wine, to add to the list of products that are currently on the market,” he added.
With an installation of a hot air dryer at his two-hectare farm in Honde Valley, Nezomba is hoping to increase his flour capacity from 300kg a month, to around 10 tonnes per month.
Online Reporter