Online Reporter
Sekai Manyere
Herald Correspondent
Certification is key to helping local manufacturers produce quality goods capable of competing in regional and international markets, Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) director-general Mr Cosmos Mukoyi has said.
Speaking at the ISO 22000 certificate handover to Unicorn Agri, Mr Mukoyi said certification assures consumers and markets that quality is being maintained from the sourcing of raw materials to the dispatch of finished products.
“Certification is more than a document. It is a public promise that every process of sourcing, receiving, laying, conditioning, milling, packaging to dispatch is managed with discipline, flexibility and care,” he said.
“You consider standards and quality just before you start your production.”
Mr Mukoyi said adherence to recognised standards was critical for local companies seeking to tap into opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“For us to be able to trade, we need the goods to trade. We do not only need the goods to trade, but we also need to trade quality goods that are acceptable,” he said.
He said harmonised standards would help remove technical trade barriers and enable certified Zimbabwean products to compete in regional and continental markets.
SAZ is committed to working with industry to ensure locally produced goods meet both national and international standards, he said.
“We are pleased that Unicorn Agri is showing commitment to doing the basics exceptionally well,” said Mr Mukoyi.
He said certification to ISO standards gives products international recognition and enhanced confidence among consumers and potential export markets.
Mr Mukoyi encouraged manufacturers to incorporate standards and quality management into their operations from the beginning of the production process rather than treating certification as an end-stage requirement.
Unicorn Agri group general manager Mr Isaac Muranganwa said the company sources its grain locally, including from small-scale farmers.
He said the company’s expansion would increase demand for locally produced grain while expanding its processing capacity.
“We buy all our grains locally and give equal opportunity to farmers, big or small, starting from the person who delivers two bags of maize to those who supply 500 to 1 000 tonnes,” he said.
Mr Muranganwa said the company is moving to expand its storage capacity from 10 000 metric tonnes per year to 20 000 metric tonnes.
He added that Unicom Agri intends to increase its milling capacity to over 100 000 metric tonnes.
“We are significantly scaling up our production capacity. Our current silo storage capacity stands at 10,000 metric tonnes, and over the coming year, we intend to double this capacity while also introducing dedicated storage for soya beans, as we embark on soya processing for stock feed production,” he said.
“Our current milling capacity is over 60,000 metric tonnes per year. We are now adding more than 100,000 metric tonnes per year of stock feed production capacity.”
This means that, in the coming month as Unicom Agri intends to commission its stockfeed plant, with efforts to increase the company’s combined production capacity from the current 60,000 metric tonnes per year from milling alone to over 160,000 metric tonnes per year across milling and stock feed operations.
This is a major step in the growth journey and strengthens our capacity to serve the market while supporting local agricultural value chain and farming community.
The certification is expected to strengthen Unicorn Agri’s ability to meet quality requirements while supporting the company’s expansion and increased sourcing of locally produced grain.
Bongani Ndlovu