eBusiness Weekly
Martin Kadzere
Local horticultural producers have been hit by power cuts that are severely affecting irrigation capacity and compromising quality of products due to poor refrigeration, according to Nhimbe Fresh Exports chairman Edwin Moyo.
“We can’t irrigate on time,” Moyo said in an interview recently.
“At the same time, the quality of our products is compromised because of lack of proper handling facilities. We expect winter products such as peas to be down by 50 percent.”
Mr Moyo said winter crops need to be timely irrigated to avoid the effects of frost.
Zimbabwe is facing severe power outages lasting for more than 10 hours, resulting from subdued generation at the country’s power plants and depressed imports.
Water rationing due to low water levels at Lake Kariba where Zimbabwe generates up to 1 050 megawatts, has forced ZESA Holdings to significantly cut production.
This has been compounded by recurrent breakdowns at Hwange Thermal Power Station and subdued imports. To mitigate the effects of power shortages, the Government this week approved a duty waiver on solar equipment and allowed mining companies to import electricity directly from the Southern African Power Pool.
The Government is also negotiating for import deals with Mozambique and South Africa. Moyo said to reduce the effects of power cuts, some farmers were installing solar equipment as an alternative to diesel generators, which are expensive to run.
“Even resorting to diesel (generators) for irrigation is not helping because it is too expensive,” said Moyo.
“The farmers are investing in solar energy as an alternative.
The sector — promising to be one of the country’s major foreign currency earners — has been showing positive signs of recovery and exports have been on an upward trend.
Exports in 2018 rose 116 percent last year to US$112 million from US$52 million recorded in the previous year, lifted by new products which were previously not exported.
The European Union is the largest market for Zimbabwe’s horticultural products.
The main EU market include Netherlands, which accounts for 43 of total horticulture exports, according to Trade Map. Other importers are United Kingdom Portugal, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Malta, Romania and Greece.
Major export crops are citrus, macadamia, avocado, peas, stone fruits, berries and flowers.
The launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will also create huge opportunities for Zimbabwe to export into the region mainly in Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which have lesser controls.
Other potential markets exist in Germany and Asia, particularly in Japan. Dubai is also emerging as a strong market for Zimbabwean horticultural produces. In efforts to assists local farmers to the EU, ZimTrade facilitated the participation of five companies at the Fruit Logistica Expo in Berlin, Germany in February 2018.
Zimbabwe used to be one of the largest exporters of a wide range of horticultural products in Africa, supplying overseas markets including Europe and the Middle East.
For instance, citrus exports peaked in 2001 at 45 000 tonnes, being 60 percent of fresh produce output. Zimbabwe also became a valuable exporter of cut flowers, and by 2001, it was ranked as the second largest in Africa, behind Kenya, second among African, Caribbean and Pacific exporters, and was the fifth biggest exporter to the EU.
