Rural community taps into value addition

Mangaliso Lawrence Kabulika

Mutasa Rural District Council (MRDC) community members have ventured into value addition and are producing chips from bananas.

The initiative is targeted at increasing earnings from banana production.

MRDC agriculture and natural resources officer Mr Kenneth Zenda yesterday said the project was being done on a small scale with about 20 people.

“The market supply is still in Mutasa only. We produce 100 boxes per week with each box having 20 packets of chips selling for US$0, 50 per packet,” he said.

Mr Zenda said they usually use green and close to yellow-coloured bananas to make the chips.

“They peel and slice the bananas and cook them with little oil as some people do not favour much oil due to health issues, “he said.

Banana being a perishable product is prone to blackening which poses a health hazard.

“To avoid the blackening of the fruit, the members cook the bananas before they change colour as this may be harmful to people’s health,” he explained.

Mr Zenda also said they were facing financial challenges to up-scale the chips production business.

“We do not have capital to acquire the necessary equipment and machinery to establish this to a larger scale,” he said.

Mr Zenda said some investors had shown some interest in value adding pineapples grown in the area into juice as well as bananas into yogurt and jam.

“As people are moving towards organic products, there is an investor from Germany who wants to venture into herbal farming with us,” said Mr Zenda.

He said the community wants to contribute towards renewable energy for sustainability through the generation of energy from the wind using windmill thereby contributing to electricity supply for the community.

MRDC administrator, Mrs Felistas Dodzo said many people in Mutasa particularly in the Honde Valley were able to send their children to school from the income they earn from bananas.

“These bananas are perishables therefore, storage is problematic. Our wish is for investors to come and assist us with more storage facilities though we have some warehouses constructed by the council,” she said.

Government is on record urging communities to take advantage of the abundant natural resources in their localities to improve their livelihoods in line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1).