How agric markets signal changes in consumption patterns
Elite foods that are produced in Zimbabwe

Elite foods that are produced in Zimbabwe

Charles Dhewa
In addition to keeping an eye on climate change, agricultural value chain actors have to continuously renew their consumer awareness.

That will ensure farmers are able to produce for specific consumers whose consumption patterns are predictable.

Over the past few years, one of the major trends witnessed in Zimbabwe is the broadening of the food basket from the traditional leafy vegetables, beef and sadza, bread and tea to include what has traditionally been considered elite foods like peas, carrots, potatoes, butternut, cauliflower and a wide range of fruits.

10 reasons for this trend

  • Most smallholder farmers are now taking farming as a business not just for subsistence but meeting all livelihood needs. This trend has gained traction after the land reform.
  • Changes in land-use patterns. There has been easy entry into horticulture compared to colonial crops such as wheat. Changes in land use patterns have also broadened the range of food stuffs, leading to increased supply and affordability.
  • Increase in Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) development. Many women and youths are now into the trading of foodstuffs. This knowledge has cascaded into several households, solidifying specific consumption patterns.
  • Nutritional awareness. Many Zimbabweans are now beginning to understand the fact that food is not just about eating staples but a wide range of choices including small grains and wild fruits. Diseases like diabetes, cancer and HIV&AIDs have triggered the consumption of small grains and indigenous vegetables.
  • Climate change. Due to a changing climate, commodities that used to be produced in winter are now found all year round. A contributing factor is increase in irrigation production, both small scale and hi-techs systems. It is now possible to get green mealies, potatoes, butternut and a wide range of foods all year round.
  • The expanding role of informal agricultural markets. Food supply models are changing rapidly. Most foodstuffs that used to be found in food chain stores are now found in diverse informal markets in urban centres, growth points and rural business centres. It is very easy to find potatoes, butternut, peppers, madhumbe and other foods from the Eastern Highlands in Gokwe, Guruve, Tsholotsho, Victoria Falls, Gwanda and many other areas, thanks to the distributive power of informal markets.
  • Generation Y – The young generation of families who have gone to school and have been exposed to diverse lifestyles are now keen to create diverse new recipes. For example, in rural areas, it is now common to find young mothers making salads from cabbages, beetroot, carrots, ginger, pepper and many others.
  • Relative economic stability – A staple economy enables people to afford diverse food stuffs compared to an inflationary economy like 2007-2008 when sadza and vegetables were the main food due to economic difficulties. An inflationary economy limits choices to staple foods.
  • Relative improvement in farmer characterisation and specialisation. There is now a wide range of farmer categories, some interested in specialising on eggs, horticulture, beef, poultry, etc. This does not just increase production but nutrition knowledge as well. We are also witnessing an increase in non-agricultural activities in rural areas where farming plus value addition at rural business centres are examples of viable socio-economic combinations.
  • Investment in agriculture by development partners, government and the private sector is translating to more food and incredible diversity.

A hard-boiled look at farmer characterisation

Competitive pressure in agricultural markets is making it clear that characterising farmers in terms of farm sizes or types of commodities is no longer enough.

For instance, the market can show the extent to which some farmers use agriculture as a stop-gap measure for supplementing their incomes while others use agriculture as retirement backwaters. Many young people use agriculture as a stop gap measure while looking for formal employment.

A number of pensioners are willing to retire into agriculture although they may lack the required knowledge and experience.

On the other hand, some formerly employed people use agriculture as a fall-back position to supplement their low incomes.

A more reliable category comprises professional farmers who are in it for the long haul and use agriculture as their main source of livelihood. Women farmers are another category but these often have unique driving forces for getting into agriculture.

Some are widows who are forced by circumstances beyond their control to take farming as a source of livelihood. Other women use agriculture to supplement their incomes but have limited control over resources because the husband may be the one who has put finance.

Another category of farmers hold onto the land for hereditary purposes and can keep a few cattle just to be seen to be doing something. Some of them have children in the diaspora who support them.

Professionals-cum-farmers

Economic hardships have forced many African formally employed professionals into freelance farming. Financial institutions prefer extending agricultural loans to these part-time farmers who can use their pay slips as a guarantor.

These farmers do not use their farming business as collateral because financial institutions are more attracted to pay slips. However, this practice denies agricultural finance to full time farmers who take it as a profession. Since they no longer have pay slips, most pensioners do not get agricultural loans.

Pensioners who have acquired houses as part of their life saving hesitate to use their houses as collateral, afraid they may lose what they have worked for all their lives.

On the other hand, youths who are keen to take farming as a career path lack instruments that can be used to measure their commitment to agriculture. Those who are luck can use their parents as guarantors.

Another category that is on the increase include Africans in the diaspora who want to invest in agriculture. This group has financial resources but lack implementers on the ground. They cannot contract other farmers to farm on their behalf.

Having already invested in residential properties, this group wants seriously invest in agriculture but there are no clear mechanisms in which they can access land.

Addressing unclear motivations for getting into agriculture

In the absence of clear characterisation, agricultural markets will continue struggling to fully understand diverse categories of farmers.

When the market fails to tell which farmer category is in the market for the long haul and who is an opportunist, it becomes difficult to build sustainable agribusiness models and concrete knowledge.

Some farmers with predatory market participation tendencies, especially those with other sources of income, can dump commodities in the market without waiting for better prices.

For such farmers, cost benefit analysis is not between the cost of production and the selling price but what the individual wants to do, for instance, quickly depositing a stand or flying out to the diaspora.

Some of the big questions being asked by the market include: What motivates different people to get into farming?

Is it free inputs, good prices on the market, passion, utilising land, livelihood requirements or opportunity-taking (trying some luck in farming)? Is it a last resort or what? Unfortunately, most farmers do not reveal reasons why they get into agriculture.

Some get into agriculture because they have been retrenched and cannot get formal employment. Another puzzle is where some farmers get into the market pretending to be part of the value chain for a long time yet they want to get quick money and disappear.

Limitations of sporadic farming

The market does not want to relate with producers and traders in unpredictable ways. That is why it has a way of punishing pretenders.

Upon getting into the market, farmers soon realise that the market has several ways of finding out why you are here, where you are coming from and for how long you want to play in the market? How do you balance formal employment and agriculture? The more value chain actors open up, the better it becomes to understand market behaviour.

Unfortunately, many farmers suffer from a bandwagon effect where they continuously follow commodities that are seem to be earning more at particular times. Such ‘prostitute’ farming is not sustainable and disrupts the smooth functioning of markets.

In fact, market failure is often caused by actors who embrace a bandwagon effect where they take resources from agricultural markets to other sectors. If you take $5000 from the food market and put it into the clothing business, you are depriving the food market of money that should be supporting and sustaining the agricultural ecosystem.

  •  Charles Dhewa is a proactive knowledge management specialist and chief executive officer of Knowledge Transfer Africa (Pvt) (www.knowledgetransafrica.com whose flagship eMKambo (www.emkambo.co.zw ) has a presence in more than 20 agricultural markets in Zimbabwe. He can be contacted on: [email protected] ; Mobile: +263 774 430 309 / 772 137 717/ 712 737 430.

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