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Karen Mukwedeya

SMALLHOLDER farming is the backbone of agriculture and food security as it prioritises food production with higher impact on household survival.

It not only feeds families but also generates jobs and catalyzes the growth of rural businesses, particularly in the sector of micro and small enterprises.

The scope is even wider on the export front where farmers stand a chance to reap huge dividends and contribute more to the mainstream economy.

However, venturing into exports requires farmers to build adequate capacity in terms of quality standards and produce adequate quantities to meet demand.

The participation of local smallholder farmers on the export market is often limited by these gaps, resulting in most of them losing market share, which had previously been dominated by Zimbabwe.

To address this challenge, ZimTrade recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fresh Produce Export Association of Kenya (FPEAK) on collaboration in the export development of smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe.

The MoU is premised on the understanding that Kenya is not just a market for Zimbabwean products and service, but also a strategic partner for Zimbabwean institutions and local farmers.

One of the objectives of the MoU is to promote and strengthen trade relations between public and private sector institutions and small-scale farmers in horticultural sector.

Information support is a critical element in export development hence the MoU also covers collaboration in exchange of information for the benefi­t of farmers in the two countries.

Further to this, the MoU encourages exchange programmes and learning visits as the two countries have a lot to share for the development of horticulture sector in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

For example, Kenya is a good demonstration of how supporting smallholder farmers will work in improving food security and livelihoods.

Most horticulture exports from Kenya emanates from smallholder farmer, a model that will work if adopted by farmers in Zimbabwe.

For example, The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) for over almost 50 years has been successful in integrating 600,000 smallholders in tea production making tea number one income earner in Kenya and enhancing the livelihoods of the involved contract growers.

In addition to learning exchanges, the MoU between ZimTrade and FPEAK targets collaborations in spaces of capacity development.

Here, the two institutions agree to establish a framework for cooperation and the implementation of a sustainable strategy for a variety of capacity building and development activities of common interest.

This will cover areas such as strengthening of human and institutional capacity of the two institutions in enhancing the service delivery to their respective stakeholders and members with respect to facilitation and promotion of trade.

The two institutions will also collaborate in provision of technical assistance towards enhancing the export readiness of stakeholders and members with emphasis on improving competitiveness, standards and conformity compliance, efficiency and effectiveness of management systems as well as seamless logistics and distribution.

It is also important in urban settings with peri-urban agriculture increasing the amount and quality of food available to people living in major towns.

Although smallholder farmers play this important role, they are often relegated to domestic markets, with only a few of them accessing international markets.

To change this, ZimTrade is creating platforms for increased engagements between Zimbabwean smallholder farmers and partners and buyers from the continent and beyond.

This focus on smallholder farmers by ZimTrade is premised on the realisation that although smallholder farmers can meet local demand, the same cannot be said for the export market, which normally requires huge quantities over a long period.

-article originally published by ZimTrade in its latest monthly newsletter