By Shingirirai Mutonho

HOUSEHOLDS in Murewa have over the past years thrived on the back of horticulture as a source of livelihood.
To help improve on returns, ARDA in 2000 embarked on a training programme to educate farmers on how to dry fruits and vegetables as a way of preserving them.
Over the past decade small holder farmers have benefited from selling dried horticulture produce both on the local and international market.
Some of the produce they dry include mangoes, bananas, apples, various vegetables and flowers.
Beneficiaries of the training programme have formed the Murewa Food Processors Group of Companies (MFPG) to boost the marketing of produce and ensure their operations are run professionally.
From the company stems out small companies comprising of six members each.
The members are involved in the collection, cutting, drying and packing of produce.
The companies speacialise in different produce with some also into producing jam from fruits.
Innocent Kambeva, a member of MFPG told The Patriot he had intensified the drying of fruits and vegetables to maximise on returns through value addition.
“We were trained on this concept and since then this has been an alternative source of income apart from growing crops such as maize,” said Kambeva.
He said the produce that is dried is produced locally and that they use the solar drying method which was cheaper.
“To cut down on costs we produce our own fruits and vegetables though at times we resort to buy from locals,” he said.
“We also use the sun to dry the produce and this is cost effective as it is quite expensive for us to use electricity or build barns powered by coal or wood.
“However, we are now constructing a small barn which will use wood.”
The Forestry Commission, Kambeva said, had advised farmers to plant woodlots if they were to opt to use barns.
He said there was a growing demand for dried produce both on the local and international markets.
“We sell our produce to shops in Harare, vendors at Mbare Musika and we also have buyers coming from as far as China, Malysia and the UK to purchase our produce,” Kambeva said.
“Our products are popular as they are healthy, require less storage space and enable consumers to have any fruit or vegetable even when it is out of season.”
The farmers rely on themselves to package and market their produce.
There is, however, need for the farmers to be educated on the need to properly package products and cut the middlemen when conducting sales.
Mostly the buyers who purchase the produce repackage them and sell them at a higher price which the farmers would have got if they followed proper marketing strategies.
Kambeva said they sold 100grammes of dried mangoes for US$1 while the same product in the local shops they provide cost between US$2 and US$3.
Some of the farmers have had the opportunity to participate in regional roadshows sponsored by Zimtrade for small to medium entreprenuers.
Kambeva said he had been to Kenya and he had learnt how to operate professionally.
“When we went to Kenya we met farmers who are also into the drying of fruits. However, they are using advanced methods such as the use of electricity,” he said.
“We realised that there was need for us to invest in coldrooms and processing rooms if we were to improve our supply.
“We still require funding to ensure that we advance our operations.”
Last month players in the horticulture sector hailed Government for increasing duty on horticultural produce as the move was said to boost demand for local products.
Duty for fresh farm produce such as potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cabbages, carrots, peas, beans, mushrooms and spinach went up by 25 percent with effect from January 1.
The Horticulture Industry Promotion Council has maintained that local farmers were capable of satisfying the growing demand of horticulture produce.
The increase of duty, HIPC said would help enhance productivity.
Duty on horticulture produce is, however, subject to suspension during the season when local supplies fail to meet demand.
The drying of fruits would ensure that farmers meet demand and consumers can get fruits and vegetables even when they out of season.