Regional Markets

Regional Markets for Local Development
mental for their success. Before embarking on this project, smallholder farmers were
confined to selling their bananas on spot markets in rural communities and the urban
markets of Harare, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Gweru and Mutare. They faced many challenges,
such as having to sell at prices below production costs and dealing with unreliable
traders. However, there was an untapped opportunity: the perpetually undersupplied
high-value urban markets, which were normally the domain of large-scale banana
producers. In 2008, smallholders from the Rusitu Valley Fruit Growers and Marketing
Trust (RVFGMT) approached SNV for assistance. Their banana business in the existing
markets had collapsed, yet they noticed the high, unmet demand at the national
high-value and the regional export markets to neighbouring countries.
SNV assisted the smallholders by linking them to private sector actors, providing market
and production expertise, helping set up farmer associations, and by facilitating
access to inputs and support services. In 2011 an estimated 95,000 tons of bananas
were produced in Zimbabwe, a 9% drop from the average of the previous five years (see
Table 3.3) (FAOSTAT 2011). Smallholders from Rusitu and Honde account for about
20,000 tons of annual production. Even though bananas are not a traditionally strong
export crop for Zimbabwe, through this project 5,000 tons per year were exported to
South Africa and Zambia through Matanuska Private Limited.
Table 3.3 Banana production in Zimbabwe (in million tons)
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 5-year average
104,000 102,000 102,000 106,000 108,000 104,000
Source: FAOSTAT (2011)
The banana value chain project
The project started with a detailed study of the banana value chain by SNV. It confirmed
that the national high-value market supply was short by more than 25,000 tons, and that
the only existing banana exporter could only meet 50% of export demand. This undersupply
provided a clear opportunity for smallholders. But it was marred by severe constraints:
poor market access, low productivity and quality, weak negotiating skills and position to
secure better prices, and lack of economies of scale. RVFGMT was the only remaining
farmer organisation active in the banana sector, but its membership plummeted tenfold
between 2000 and 2008 (falling from 3,000 to only 300). Since many farmers had
neglected their banana plots, the remaining members could not attract bigger buyers, and
were forced to sell to local small traders (2008, pers) 9 . The study also revealed that more
9 Personal observation by the bookkeeper of the RVFGMT at the time.
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