eBusiness Weekly
Munashe Matambo
Zimbabwe’s horticulture sector has potential to grow into big business if local players partner with experienced companies from the Netherlands, ZimTrade acting CEO Allan Mujuru has said.
He was speaking to Business Weekly on the sidelines of a business convention in Harare this week.
ZimTrade in partnership with BancABC and NABC sponsored a three-day convention of Zimbabwean and Dutch companies to explore opportunities in the horticulture industry.
“Horticulture is a billion-dollar business. There is massive potential and we need investments and assistance. That is why we then worked with BancABC and NABC to bring investors in the horticultural sector. We used to be better than Kenya,” he said.
Peak Production
At its peak in 1999 horticulture earned Zimbabwe $143 million from exports and since then the sector has been on the downward trend.
Exports fell to about $72 million in 2005 and $40 million in 2009 mainly caused by the demise of the Horticulture Promotion Council and lack of a reliable market.
However, 2017 witnessed a rebound in volume of exports of horticulture produce riding on a deliberate import substitution policy as pronounced in the Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Economic Transformation (ZIM-ASSET).
According to the trade promotion agency, Zimtrade, Zimbabwe’s horticultural exports stood at $83 million in 2016.
The delegation composition
The delegation from the Netherlands is composed of the following companies: Hendrix Genetics, poultry company that produces and sells parent breeders to the layer industry, Transnational Agri Projects: poultry company that sells high-quality and expertise second-hand equipment for the slaughter industry and Vencomatic Group: poultry company that offers innovative solutions for layers, breeders and broilers, Impex: poultry company that sells drinking systems and accessories for poultry and pig farming, Verbeek: poultry company that supplies hatching eggs, chicks and pullets, Moba: poultry manufacturing company of egg grading, packing and processing machines and Ottevanger: poultry company that produces process equipment (feed mills, premix and concentrate plants, aqua feed and pet food installations). Your Business Expansion: company that helps foreign SMEs from to do business in the Netherlands and potentially other European markets, and Hotraco: company that offers various solutions for the horticulture sector including climate control, irrigation, ventilation, air treatment, control technology and energy distribution.
Other companies included Bles Dairies: company specialised in genetics, supply of high quality pedigree dairy livestock, consultancy and practical training in the field of milk production and the milk dairy value chain; Okra Landschapsarchitecten: company involved in urban planning and making integrated plans for climate adaptive cities based on new mobility and social inclusiveness, Jobnet Africa: company in recruitment/HR, Jan Oskam: import and export company of vegetables, fruits and citrus products, and Marlo Farms: South African company that sells fruits and vegetables.
Government Support
Speaking at the same event, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Perrance Shiri, lauded the organisations on their trade mission. He also added that the ministry has been crafting policies that not only assures that Zimbabwe becomes self- sufficient in food production but also attract investment into the country.
The ministry therefore seeks to introduce the Command Agriculture System into the livestock and horticulture sectors as a way to show support and increase productivity.
“You may be aware that we had our own Command Agriculture Policy, which started by focusing on grains, from which we have achieved tremendous results. Blessed with two good rainy seasons, we now have enough grain food for the country.
Our focus is now spreading the Command System to other areas like livestock and horticulture and this demonstrates the importance of this event,” said Shiri.
Zimbabwe used to be a big exporter of livestock products such as beef, fish, poultry, ostrich and crocodiles. Furthermore, the country used to be renowned for export of horticulture products such as flowers like roses, hypericum, proteas and lilies to mention a few to some Western and European countries. It’s high quality products used to be well received in Europe.
