Tag Archives: Manica

One thing the farmers (and market sellers) haven’t seemed to learn is market diversification. From my first day I heard about cabbage, saw cabbage and ate cabbage. Cabbage is spoiling in the Manica and Chimoio markets yet these market sellers say they could sell more. I found it so depressing I didn’t even take a photo of it. Beautiful cabbage is sitting in some farmer’s fields yet no one buys it. Yet they say they want to buy more and grow more. How come?

The farmers say they are able to make a good profit growing cabbage. This was confirmed by Bella, a PhD student from Zimbabwe who has been working with the Belas Associations and conducting some case studies. But I’ve begun to wonder. What about cucumbers, onions peppers, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach or potatoes? These twenty-something potato sellers in the 25 Junho Market in Chimio told me most of the potatoes they bought and sold were from South Africa.

They were unable to find a reliable local source for good quality potatoes. When they say good quality they are primarily talking about size, but they also value red potatoes which often are not found on the South African market. These guys also said they wanted to sell more then potatoes (unlike the cabbage sellers) and could sell almost anything. I believe them.

All they need is a local source. At least this case the young are moving faster than the older generations.

I’ve seen few new agricultural products for sale. In Manica I saw ginger, although I’m told it as been available for several years, mustard greens and broccoli rab and a few sad looking eggplant in Chimoio. Otherwise little has changed in the markets. There are perhaps more sellers and non- agricultural related business in Mercado 38. Mercado 25 de Junho has built a line of permanent stalls and cleared out a pathway for customers.

The farmers in four of the six Belas Associations have just completed four days of intensive business plan training from GAPI, a local microfinance organization. This week I’m planning to follow up on some of the theoretical concepts they learned last week- especially on the concept of diversification- why it makes good business sense and why it is good for production. Their other favorite crop couve, or Portuguese kale, is the in the same vegetable family as cabbage. Their fields are full of cabbage worms. I’m a bit worried that the photos and video of the Madison farmers market

will overwhelm them, but I’m hoping they will learn to imagine what more is possible. Growing petite green beans for Vanduzi Company is just one small step.

For two days I’ve been outside of Chimoio visiting farming associations and interviewing farmers in rural Manica Province. On the second day I traveled close to the Zimbabwe boarder, which can be seen at the top of the mountains in the photo below.

On the first day I met Pai de Paulino, 78, who has farmed his land since at least 1975.

His association quarries rocks by hand as an alternative income generating enterprise. The work is hard and most of his children have left the land.

Probably the greatest challenge faced by this association is their isolation. The road is in extremely poor condition, thus traffic to and from the main road is nearly non-existent.

They would like to take produce out to the main road where it could be more easily purchased by wholesalers from Chimoio and Beira. Although they own a few oxen, they do not own a cart. Finally, their isolation also means they lack market price information, putting them at the mercy of the wholesalers who do manage to make it out to their farm. Pai de Paulino, however, is hopeful as he has already seen improvement in his production levels and quality after receiving technical assistance from UCAMA.

While in the field I’ve been hosted by farming associations who operate with technical assistance from UCAMA (Manica Farmers Union).

The associations are not cooperatives, but rather growers who often farm on adjoining parcels of land and work together to have their land legally certified with the government. Sometimes the associations function as loose cooperatives, but I’ve learned not to use that word as it for some nearly a dirty word due to Mozambique’s socialist past. Each association functions a bit differently and is in varies stages of development. At times members purchase inputs together, but rarely do they market their produce jointly. The associations could benefit greatly from forming a true cooperative structure and I find myself struggling not to bring up the topic directly.

The primary vegetable crops are tomatoes, lettuce, onions, carrots, cabbage, sweet peppers, cucumbers, okra, beans (both green and dry), greens, and garlic.

During my visits I was given tomatoes, greens, bananas, sugar cane, tangerines, and papaya.

According to growers, tomatoes are generally the most lucrative crop, despite the fact that the market often faces overproduction and large price fluctuations. I already witnessed many rotting tomatoes in the Beira market and my mind can barely stop spinning with endless possibilities for processed tomato products. A tomato canning factory existed in Chimoio prior to 1975, but just this morning I heard a rumor that it had recently been sold to someone who dismantled all the equipment and took it to Zambia. Home processing is also unknown, but from my own experience I know how easy it is to home dry Roma tomatoes (the most common variety grown here). The problem, of course is that both and if growers and consumers would need to be convinced that it is a good idea. Even Elizabeth, the CNFA Horticultural Value Chain project manager, is skeptical about the taste. I’m hoping one of these days to find an expensive imported package of sun-dried tomatoes from Italy in the local Shoprite from which I can offer some taste test samples.