Seven vegetable commodities to sell
MBABANE - There is money to be made in the agriculture sector and the market is yours for the taking.
As we continue to observe growth in this sector, more business opportunities continue to avail themselves.
In Eswatini, the agriculture sector is one which is most favourable due to our climate and weather conditions.
+owever, most farmers locally seem to be focusing on growing and supply one and the same produce, which has created scarcity in the produce needed by the market both locally and abroad. The Ministry of Agriculture said the market is currently flooded with plenty of produce which they are not able to sell locally or abroad. The selling points for locally produced items include the 1ational Maize Corporation (1MC), the 1ational Marketing and Agricul tural %oard (1am%oard) and Eswatini Meat Industries (EMI). 1MC buys and sells maize and wheat, 1am%oard is for vegetables while EMI is for meat products. These entities are also responsible for marketing and selling products abroad. There are vegetables which are in low supply and are highly demanded by the market, these include green pepper, tomatoes, green beans, cauliflower, orange, beetroot, broccoli and butternut.
Products
The Ministry of Agriculture said the above listed products were now scarce in the market which would increase their buying price, affect ing consumers. Planning Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture 1okwazi S. Mamba, who works in the Marketing Advisory 8nit (MA8), said these produce were demanded by the market.
According to the ministry, a crate of tomatoes could now be supplied from a minimum of E , while green pepper will give you kg at E . %eetroot supply cost price stands at a minimum of E and green beans are currently supplied at E per kg. %utternut which is grown mostly in the Manzini Region is also scarce and its supply price currently stands at a minimum of E per kg in local markets. Cauliflower and broccoli are not produced by local farmers, this has forced the regulator to import it from South Africa and other SADC countries, making the buying price high. The only fruit which is in low supply in the current market is the orange, which sells at E per
kg in local markets. The Ministry of Agricul ture mentioned that farmers locally had been producing items which were now stagnant and cannot move in the market. These include naartMies, grapefruits, apples, green chillies, onions, Pamela tomatoes, potatoes, sweet po tatoes and banana.
The above mentioned products are plenty and at risk of spoilage. The Ministry further advised farmers and investors to focus on scarce commodities to make money and help sustain
SCARCE VEGETABLE Beetroot
Green beans
Butternut
Green pepper
Tomatoes
Broccoli
Cauliflower
UNIT 10 kg 10 kg 10 kg 10 kg 10 kg
Per Head
Per Head
MINIMUM COST (E) 105 120 85 170 250
Not available
Not available
the economy.
They said if farmers focused on the commod ities which are in excess the producer prices will continue to decline. ³There are plenty of potatoes in the market and this has forced the unit price for the product to drop to a minimum of E per kg from E ,´ said the ministry. They also said this would contribute to labour becoming scarce in the agriculture sector.
Production
They said vegetable production is labour intensive, where most commercial production occurs, usually attracts a large number of daily labourers from across SADC and the world.
1am%oard Chief Executive Officer (CEO) %hekizwe Maziya also urged farmers to focus more on scarce commodities.
In an interview with the CEO on Friday, he said such commodities are easy to sell and can move at a fast rate and they should check with 1am%oard before production. ³Farmers should focus on scarce commodities because those products are on demand in the market and can be sold quicker,´ he said.
Maziya also mentioned that if farmers start producing scarce products, they will make more profit due to the upscale in the movement of the produce in the market and they will decide the selling price. +e said they cannot regulate the price if the product is in demand in the market.
Minister of Agriculture, -abulani Mabuza, said upscale in vegetable production is in line with the agriculture sector strategy, where the government together with stakeholders in the sector, committed to upscale and strengthen agriculture industry associations.
The minister said they were going to drive growth of the production, marketing and over all competitiveness across priority agriculture commodities in the country.
³:hen we establish and strengthen such institutions, it is much easier to facilitate co herent and inclusive development in the sector with forums where ideas and opportunities are shared,´ he said. Mabuza also mentioned that production was an important ingredient and precursor to improved production, better quality produce and backward and forward linkage with various players.
Support
+e said as a ministry, they fully supported the vegetable production as a tool for the empower ment of and demonstrating the linkages in the agriculture value chains.
Muzi Dlamini, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eswatini Competition Commission (ESCC) last week said Eswatini needed to do things better to be productive in the trade market. +e said one of the maMor pieces of legislation that was enacted to support the national development goals was the Competi tion Act of . ³The act is a necessity to the country because it provides encouragement of competition in the economy and promotion of free trade,´ he said. Dlamini also mentioned that the competition policy is about applying rules to make sure businesses and companies compete fairly.
The CEO said businesses would now have to be more efficient and innovative so that they were able to compete among themselves.
³:hen Eswatini MT1 was a monopoly, had no choice but to use their product because they had no competition but after the introduction of Eswatini Mobile, they now promote their products based on the competition and mar ket,´ he said. Dlamini also mentioned that the policy would avail a wider choice of consumers and reduction of prices of goods and services throughout the economy. +e said customers would have a variety of options when it comes to selecting products because business would be competing with each other. The CEO also mentioned that the policy would bring equal opportunities for businesses to participate in local and international markets.
+e said this would improve their productivity, thus causing an increase in the economy.