Sugar beans farmers demand fair prices

 

Luthando Mapepa
Chipinge Correspondent

SUGAR beans farmers in Chipinge are fretting over prices being pegged by buyers.

The farmers say they feel short-changed as some unscrupulous middle men are taking advantage of the scarcity of buyers to rip them off.

The marketing season for sugar beans has started for farmers in Middle Sabi, Chibuwe and Musikavanhu Irrigation Schemes and the few available buyers are buying the produce at US$0.70 per kg.

The farmers say they want a win-win situation, with some of them now withdrawing their produce from the market in anticipation of better prices.

One of leading producers of sugar beans, Mr Saymore Majuta of Musikavanhu Block Five, said they will not sell their crop until they find better buyers.

“As farmers, we agreed that we will not sell our beans for a song. These middle men are getting more than what the actual farmer is pocketing and we are saying no to that daylight robbery.

“We are looking for serious buyers and we hope to strike a deal soon. Growing sugar beans is now an expensive venture. Imagine a 50kg bag of top dressing fertiliser is going for US$70 and then someone wants to buy a kilogramme of our produce for less than a dollar,” he said

Chairperson of Middle Sabi Farmers Association, Mr Skumbuzo Thondlana warned middle men against ripping off farmers.

“We are urging buyers to come up with realistic prices. We are closely monitoring the situation and will not hesitate to raise the red flag on those who want to reap where they did not sow.

“There is global shortages of sugar beans, hence we are anticipating good prices for our crop. Following the Public Private Partnership (PPPs) which our farmers ventured into, we are expecting a bumper harvest,” said Mr Thondlana.

Chipinge District Extension Officer, Mr Tapiwa Chagwesha said farmers should form syndicates when selling their cash crops.

“Many farmers here are not earning much as they are not united. We are urging them to unite and form syndicates. They should push for the gazetting of a fixed price for their produce,” he said.