daniel chigunwe
Obert Chifamba
Agri-Insights
THIS might seem unbelievable, like a story plucked from a fairytale, but the reality if strikingly clear: farmers are getting involved in freak accidents during the process of transporting market-destined produce to pick-up points along the highways.
And the cause of the accidents in most cases is that they would not be visible to motorists, as their carts do not have reflectors to alert motorists of their presence ahead.
To make matters worse, most of the farmers do not help the situation by wearing dark clothes.
These accidents, often avoidable, reveal a troubling side of agricultural life that threatens the viability of farming, essentially serving as stark reminders of the challenges these dedicated farmers endure on their journey to bring fresh food to our tables.
And deservedly, the steadily rising buzz around the continuing accidents involving this constituency of farmers – the smallholders – only continues to get louder by the day.
For better or worse, plenty of stories are being told of how some farmers are losing their precious cargo, carts, animals or even their lives to accidents that could have easily been avoided. In most cases, the farmers are being caught up in similar circumstances – they would be on their way to the highway to drop off produce along the highway where truckers or buses going to Mbare will pick it.
Usually these trips happen at night, as they try to avoid shipping the cargo under the blistering heat of the day that can easily ruin its quality.
Being a member in a farmers’ WhatsApp group, I cannot help but get worried each time there is a discussion on an accident involving one of us or a farmer not necessarily in the group, but known to some members. In most cases the circumstances surrounding the accidents easily replicate those of previous cases, hence the need to take an analytical look into the matter.
It is a fact that most of the smallholder farmers who trade their produce at mass markets around the country are not adequately resourced to ferry their produce safely and professionally, but they have to do the task, lest they incur heavy post-harvest losses.
This is traceable to the fact that the bulk, if not all, do not have cold storage facilities on their farms and cannot afford to keep produce on the farm for another day once it is harvested. The perishable nature of their produce forces them to act this way.
They end up moving to capitalise on the cool temperatures associated with night time in the absence of proper on-farm storage facilities. The trading times at the markets also leave them with very little choice as it begins early in the morning and ends around midday, which requires them to have completed their business of the day by then.
There are, however, some who have put systems in place for the ferrying of their produce to markets once they harvest and this group usually has transporters coming to their fields and collecting the stuff. Such farmers usually pool resources as cooperatives or neighbours and also produce on larger tracts of land to yield significant tonnages of produce that also leave their wallets bulging once they are done with marketing.
Under such circumstances such farmers pay the transporters for going out of their way to come to the farms to collect when they can always do so at agreed collection points along the highways. Some of the transporters factor in distance travelled to and from the farm when they calculate the transport fees, which pushes it out of the reach of the farmers.
Of source there are many reasons why the farmers end up taking this route each time they want to send produce to the market. In some cases, their farms are situated in areas where there are no roads linking them to the highway and so transporters shun such farms or when they come, it will be at a cost that usually chews lavishly into the projected earnings, which leaves the farmers poorer.
Inasmuch as there seems to be no quick solution in sight for the farmers’ problem, it is important for them to be proactive and start with the simplest and commonest solution of forming groups and jointly pay transporters to come to their farms whereupon they can drop produce at one place from where it will be picked.
This will save them the hassle of going to the highways at night risking their safety. It is also important to note that criminals are now targeting even farm produce and can easily pounce on the defenceless farmers and rob them of the produce, something that is not easy to do if it is being ferried in a truck.
The other option would be for the farmers to just make sure they wear light colours and stick reflectors on their carts or their ramshackle of tractors and trailers so that they are noticed from the distance if they are to continue with their routine of going to cargo pick-up points at night.
They should realise that they are also putting the lives of motorists in danger, so a little care would save lives.
Incidentally, damage from such accidents does not spare the produce intended for delivery, as well as the valuable assets – cattle, donkeys or the tractors and scotch carts. Losses of such assets not only affect the complexion of the subsequent seasons but impact heavily on the national economy. Usually assets like tractors get broken to unusable levels, which means there will also be more losses incurred in replacing them.
It may also make a lot of sense if extension officers go out of their way to address issues around safety around farms and even beyond.
Farmers should appreciate that they have to be alive to be productive, hence the need to ensure that whatever they do in their line of duty does not compromise their safety and that of others.
Online Reporter