Horticulture tipped for exports record

TRADE development and promotion body ZimTrade has expressed confidence that the horticulture sector can get back to the 1999 export record level of US$143 million driven by the emergence of new products.
ZimTrade operations director Similo Nkala said horticulture had been identified as a key sector in the drive to grow exports under the national trade policy.
“In 1998/99, we exported about US$143 million worth of horticulture produce. We had fallen as low as US$54 million after that, but we have now seen quite an improvement.
“According to Trade Map, our horticulture exports stood at about US$124 million in 2022. This is mostly driven by new horticulture subsectors coming through such as blueberries, which in 2015 were below US$200 000, but we are now seeing their contribution rising to as high as US$12 million.
“We have also seen citrus contributing significantly with as much as US$32 million,” Nkala told The Financial Gazette this week.
“We have seen farmers increasing hectarages for blueberries, pecan nuts, …macadamia nuts, which are mostly going to China where we export as much as US$13-US$16 million.

“We have also seen an increase on the peas side with sugar snap peas and mangetout peas where between April and August each year we are one of the biggest exporters of these products into the European Union market. At times we are ranked the fourth largest exporter.”
Nkala was speaking after the launch of a horticulture master class targeting the European Union market.
“We have launched the horticulture export masterclass in partnership with PUM, the Dutch embassy, CBZ Bank and an organisation from the Netherlands called Chain. We want to bring the smallholder famers into mainstream exports.
“For us to increase our horticulture exports we have to rope in the smallholder horticulture farmers. Just like what is happening in Kenya where a farmer with three to five hectares is able to export produce.
“They are actually the largest contributors to Kenya’s horticulture exports. We are capacitating the farmers starting with the production side, post-harvest processes, increasing quality management and increasing productivity so that they can be competitive,” Nkala said.
The Netherlands deputy ambassador Eva Van Woersem noted how the two countries had benefitted from trade in the agri-sector over the years.
“The Netherlands is Zimbabwe’s biggest market for flowers and fresh produce, absorbing around 70 percent of Zimbabwe’s US$100 million fresh produce exports.
“I am always happy to find delicious Zimbabwean avocados, blueberries, and peas when I go to get my groceries back home. The Netherlands is also a global trade hub, and a route for Zimbabwean produce to other markets,” Van Woerse