By Charles Dhewa
If you had avocadoes for breakfast this morning, chances are that the fruit came from Mt Selinda or Honde Valley in Manicaland.
From April to October every year, at least twenty 15-ton trucks bring avocadoes from Honde Valley to Mbare market daily.
The same number of trucks brings bananas from Honde Valley. An equal number of trucks brings sugar cane from Honde Valley to Mbare market every day, a distance of 320km if the produce comes from major production zones like Sagambe.
Each 15-ton truck carries 80-90 bags of either avocadoes or banana, each weighing 90 kilograms.
If you do your maths, how many metric tons of avocadoes and banana come to Harare from Honde Valley every month for seven months of the year?
We are not even mentioning quantities going to Chitungwiza, Marondera, Mutare, Masvingo, Gweru and Bulawayo.
A 90kg bag of avocadoes is so heavy that women cannot lift it and have to hire labour from men which increases the cost of marketing for women.
Transport and ripening infrastructure
Although the terrain in Honde Valley is not friendly for drivers, the roads are not too bad compared to other production zones.
However, farmers are not happy about the cost of transport. Transporters are charging USD10 to transport each 90kg bag from Honde to Mbare market and, depending on the consumer buying power on the day, a bag of avocadoes is bought for USD80-95 while bananas go for USD60-70/90kg.
The fruits are mostly brought to Mbare in an unripe state for ripening at the market in makeshift cardboard boxes.
In three to four days, the fruits are ready for consumption. Proper ripening facilities are badly needed at the market to avert losses and ensure food safety.
Sugar cane
A 15-ton truck carries 330-dozens of sugar cane from Honde Valley to Mbare at USD3-4/dozen transport cost.
Depending on demand and consumer buying power, a dozen can go for USD7-9 at Mbare.
That means more than half of the income that should be earned by farmers is consumed by transport costs.
Because sugar cane is 98% water, it would be cost-effective to transport via rail if it was available.
According to Aleck Ruwanza and other sugar cane farmers from Honde Valley, policy makers should intervene so that transport costs are reduced in favour of farmers who are working very hard to feed the nation and create employment.
What is the value of our production corridors?
Monitoring and tracking the movement of agricultural commodities from high production corridors like Honde Valley, Burma Valley, Rusitu Valley, Mazowe Valley, Enterprise Valley and many other areas like Umguza, Mt Selinda, Kezi and even dry areas like Binga can reveal their true potential and contribution to GDP.
For an agriculture-driven economy like Zimbabwe, these are the kinds of conversations that should be discussed in cabinet, parliament, media and educational institutions.
Charles@knowledgetransafrica.com / charles@emkambo.co.zw / info@knowledgetransafrica.com Website: www.emkambo.co.zw / www.knowledgetransafrica.com Mobile: 0772 137 717/ 0774 430 309/0712737430
