STATE-of-the-art trucks and ramshackle ones groaning under the weight of health and eye-catching agricultural products have become a common sight.
And so are the pushcarts laden with fruits and vegetables of all types.
Arguably the number of people living off the land in the country can easily surpass that of those in formal employment.
The number of players in the agro-sector is on the increase.
These farmers should strive to become agro-preneurs and earn more.
So efficient has become these producers that no longer is a single individual known for being the biggest supplier of a particular product.
“A majority of us in this business of vending agricultural produce in the city are not just vendors, but producers of these crops we are selling,” said Tawanda Magorimbo.
“We are beneficiaries of the Land Reform Programme and we are producing all types of vegetables including cauliflower and strawberries.”
With more than 400 000 black households having benefited from the life-transforming exercise, production is no longer a preserve of the few.
“Before the Land Reform Programme, there were not many sources of produce, vendors literally bought produce for sale from specific and in some instances a single source, but now we all have become producers, for example, potatoes are coming from all corners of the country,” said Viola Chafesuka, a potato farmer in Macheke.
The high literacy rate in the country has ensured that there are very few items that a Zimbabwean farmer on a small or medium scale cannot produce and sell profitably at the first level which is the open wholesale market.  
But a majority of these successful agro-entrepreneurs could be earning more if they embarked on value addition of their products.
Value addition has a particular importance in that it offers a strategy for transforming farming enterprises to more profitable ventures.
Thus a value-addition strategy is critical to the long-term survival of small-scale farmers.
It is common knowledge that small-scale farmers’ products never have a consistent price.
Prices for products depreciate as the day progresses.
By nightfall, large quantities of bananas, strawberries, oranges and cucumbers among other products, are sold for a song.
“We are forced to lower prices because we cannot go back home with produce thus we end up in a situation where it is better to get something rather than risk losing the products.
“As for potatoes there are now many producers which force us to keep lowering prices to attract customers,” said Magorimbo.
According to economic analyst Jonathan Gambe, producers should not be battling on the price front, but seek ways to enhance their products.
“Producers must be encouraged to increase profitability by vertically integrating their operations rather than simply expanding horizontally to increase their volume of production,” said Gambe.
“Value must be added by taking products one or more steps up the vertical ladder of processing and marketing rather than staying at the same level and trying to increase quantity.
“There is no reason for producers to lose because they must be making more from their products.
“Why sell ‘baccossi’ (many) bananas because the day is coming to an end.
“Fruits can be value-added into juices that have ready markets in health spars, hotels and restaurants.
“There are also dried fruits that are popular on the international markets and fetch higher prices.”
Canning, he said, was another option that can see producers realising more from products.
However, constraints facing farmers with regards to value-addition include lack of capital to procure machinery for processing products and know how.
“We fully appreciate the fact that agro processing has a tremendous potential for increasing income and shelf life of products, but there are few programmes promoting value-addition,” said Chafesuka.
“Concentration it seems has been placed on reviving big companies and no emphasis is being placed on improving the operations of the small-scale farmers.
“We lack the financial muscle to establish these processing plants on our own.”
Producers, Gambe said, were making respectable profits and what was necessary was for them to organise themselves into a consortium that can pool resources and establish a processing plant.
“There are hundreds of these producers and if they are to pool resources they can easily establish a processing plant,” he said.
As markets become more competitive, it is critical that producers take advantage of value-addition as well as establishing market research teams to keep tabs on both fresh and processed local, regional and international markets.