Small- scale farmers target exports

THE Small-scale and Subsistence Farmers’ Trust has clinched a deal with Greener Green, a Dubai-based company, for the supply of a variety of products to the United Arab Emirates, China and Europe.

The deal will see the farmers supplying sugar beans, sweet potatoes, indigenous chicken (road runners), guavas, tomatoes and avocados among other farm produce.

The trust’s chairperson Mr George Hungwe, said Greener Green has since provided $150 000 for the project.

“We now have a ready market for several products in Europe after we clinched a deal with Greener Green of Dubai. The company expects us to supply a number of products every month,” said Mr Hungwe.

He said a number of programmes have been lined up to make sure the farmers meet their export targets.

“We have programmes where we will contract farmers using the fund we received. The farmers will in turn sell their products to us and we will export them,” he said.

He said the farmers are currently struggling to meet a target of 1 000 chickens (roadrunners) per month, hence the decision by the company to bankroll the project.

“After we discovered farmers could not meet the target, we came up with an idea of equipping them with necessary inputs and resources so that we meet our target,” he said.

Besides inputs and funding, the deal will also see the drilling of boreholes to deal with water challenges that most farmers face.

“We will drill boreholes to curb water challenges at selected households who would have made the grade under the programme,” he said.

Mr Hungwe also said plans are underway to have egg incubators across the country to ensure there are enough chicks.

“So far, we have one incubator in Masvingo and we are planning to have more in Midlands and other parts of the country,” he said.

Mr Hungwe also said other projects they have embarked on are fish farming, market gardening, cattle and goat rearing.