Farai Mabeza, Senior Staff Writer 
TRADE development and promotion body, ZimTrade, says the recent citrus trade protocol agreed between Zimbabwe and China can open up the Asian giant’s market for other horticulture products from Zimbabwe.
ZimTrade conducted a market scan in China on the sidelines of a recent Zimbabwe-China Business Forum and believes that local farmers can earn premium value on a wide range of crops.
“There are quite a number of export opportunities for Zimbabwean products in China but our lowest hanging fruits are in the horticulture sector, particularly in the citrus subsector because Zimbabwe and China already share a protocol that seeks to facilitate easier exports of Zimbabwean citrus fruits into China.
“And the import bill for China in that sector was US$521 million in 2021, which shows that there is enough buying power from China to source from Zimbabwe,” ZimTrade manager, communications, Danai Majaha told The Financial Gazette this week.
“As ZimTrade we are already trying to map out some of the logistical considerations that make it easy for Zimbabwean companies to land citrus produce in China.
“We are also looking at alternative routes to (the port of) Durban (where most of Zimbabwe’s exports currently go through). We are looking at Mozambique as an easier option to adopt.”
While the Chinese market offers premium prices for fresh produce, there are requirements that must be facilitated by governments, that will make it easy for local producers to export.
“Outside citrus we have other opportunities in berries, avocados, bananas etc but these would require additional protocols to make it easier for Zimbabwean farmers to export.
“So, we have been encouraging Zimbabwean farmers to fully utilise the existing protocol so that it makes it easy for the countries to adopt additional protocols riding on the success of the citrus protocol,” Majaha said.
“There is a need for more protocols focusing on other produce that Zimbabwean farmers have the capacity to produce.”
“Further to this, there is also a need for supporting infrastructure, such as cold room facilities that will make it easy for producers across the country to export fresh produce to China.
“For bulky products such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, sea freight is the most sustainable option, with the port of Beira, Mozambique identified as the most convenient route for those looking to export.
“Deliberate investments into more storage and handling facilities along corridors that connect Zimbabwe to closer ports should be considered to facilitate exporters and freighters to handle huge volumes of fresh produce exports.”
ZimTrade also says there are opportunities for essential oils such as baobab oil and marula oil in the Chinese market.
“We have vast herbs and spices that are found in abundance in Zimbabwe that have huge market opportunities in China.
“It is a huge market and potential exporters must consider capacity issues. Do they have enough production power to meet the required quantities?
“At the same time, we encourage companies to focus on niche products and niche markets especially riding on products such as organic horticulture produce.
“Zimbabwe can produce niche products that have a unique market in China,” Majaha explained.
According to a recent note by ZimTrade top, imported horticultural produce in China last year were berries (US$6,1 billion), stone fruits (US$3,14 billion), roots and tubers (US$2,04 billion), and nuts (US$1,81 billion).
Zimbabwe has the potential to supply most of these products as they are already in production and some local producers are already exporting to markets such as the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and United Arab Emirates.
Leading exporters of fresh produce to China last year were Thailand (US$8,19 billion), Chile (US$3,37 billion), and Vietnam (US$1,74 billion).
From Africa, the leading exporter of fresh produce into China last year was South Africa (US$514 million), and the top products were nuts, citrus, grapes, apples and flowers.
“Ethiopia is the second largest exporter of fresh produce into the market from Africa, selling US$240 million worth of produce.
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