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Agriculture Reporter
THE country will host its third horticulture investment forum in Harare on October 31 with stakeholders set to share ideas on ways of achieving a US$1 billion horticulture export industry by 2030.
Horticultural Development Council (HDC) chief executive officer, Mrs Linda Nielsen yesterday said leading investors and horticulture industry players would gather for the annual investment forum to explore financing opportunities for Zimbabwe’s growing horticulture sector.
This year’s theme is: ‘Future-proofing horticulture – Strong pipelines for bold investments.’
“The Zimbabwean horticulture sector is at a pivotal moment. Vast opportunities have emerged across the industry. This exciting event aims to find solutions to unlock sustainable financing to help the industry fully capitalise on opportunities, while addressing policy challenges that hinder the sector’s growth,” said Mrs Nielsen.
The investment forum will provide a platform to discuss strategies for unlocking investment potential in this increasingly vital industry.
She said industry players would engage directly with policymakers in the Ministries of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development as well as Finance, Investment Promotion and Economic Development.
Producers, financial institutions, development partners and potential investors will attend the event meant to boost horticulture sector’s performance and export earnings plus creating jobs.
“With increasing global demand for Zimbabwean produce, the sector’s expansion is essential for economic diversification. This makes horticulture a prime investment target,” she added.
The third event comes after the successful hosting of the first and second editions in 2021 and 2023 respectively.
It comes on the backdrop of Government’s launch of the Horticultural Recovery and Growth Plan (HRGP), which is part of a broader strategy to transform agriculture into a US$13, 75 billion sector by 2025 after meeting first target of attaining a US$8, 2 billion by end of 2022.
At the inaugural investment launch in 2021, stakeholders observed that achieving a US$1 billion horticulture export industry by 2030 would require a 30 percent annual export growth.
At the second edition, the HDC said an investment of US$1, 2 billion across the sub-sector was required between the present and 2030 to achieve a US$1 billion industry annually.
Statistics from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStats) show that the horticulture sector earned US$72 million in 2020 and rose slightly in 2021 to US$73 million, a percentage increase that was less than the anticipated 30 percent. In 2022 horticulture export earnings remained flat at US$73 million while it declined nine percent to US$67 million last year.
This investment forum will proffer suggestions on what needs to be done to achieve the anticipated US$1 billion target by 2030.
The opening of the Chinese market for the country’s citrus and avocado products also comes under scrutiny, as Zimbabwe is failing to use the Mozambican port of Beira as a result of lack cold sterilisation conditions required by the market.
The country’s citrus exports are still going via the longer and costlier port of Durban.
Discussions will also centre on how to expand the blueberry sector, which has enjoyed brisk growth, as the country takes advantage of its unique selling proposition (USP) of quality, taste and production time.
Zimbabwe targets to increase the export of blueberries from the anticipated 8 000 tonnes this year to 30 000 by 2030 with a more enabling environment.
Online Reporter