Cephas Shava
Mwenezi-As part of efforts to bolster export development in the Marula sector, ZimTrade recently organised a training workshop for local Marula pickers and processors exploring export opportunities in the sector.
The gathering which was convened at Mwenezi Subcatchment Council’s Rutenga offices saw stakeholders being enlightened by experts on the diverse export opportunities in the Marula sector.
Speaking at the event, ZimTrade Eastern Region client advisor Simbarashe Tasekwa said the organisation’s objective is to energise the country’s exports by capacitating potential players through such trainings and Mwenezi district being home to the Marula fruits has been identified as having the potential to energise the country’s export.
“As ZimTrade our aim is to energise the country’s exports and also initiate export development where we capacitate potential players through these trainings where we have hired experts to explore the market expectations of the European and African market.
“We have identified potential export clusters which comprises of Marula pickers and processors here in Mwenezi. We are enlightening them on the export opportunities in the Marula sector. We are also helping these farmers in making sure that their produces are organic certified so that they had the chance to value add the fruits from Marula oil to Marula beverages and juices,” said Tasekwa.
Participants appreciated the programme which they described as an eye-opener though they however expressed concerns over the snail pace at which the Mwenezi mapfura plant used to operate whenever they deliver their fruits.
“We are really excited about the export opportunities you are preaching but what worries us as locals is that whenever we deliver our produces at the local processing plant last season, the process was very slow. Some of our fruits lost value right at the plant’s doorstep owing to some delays beyond our control. There is need for the local plant to upgrade its machines such that unnecessary delays which resulted in farmers spending several hours queuing to deliver their Marula fruits,” said one of the participant.
On its part, the National Biotechnology Authority’s (NBA) Mwenezi Mapfura Plant representative took the opportunity to enlighten farmers on the possible best ways to deliver quality grade produces as well as sharing tips for the effective handling of the harvested fruits.
Having already registered 850 local farmers, NBA urged more to register with their organisation so that they could properly plan knowing the exact number of potential Marula fruits suppliers saying this will definitely improve efficacy at the plant.
