Agriculture Reporter
Fruit and vegetable farmers at Mbare Musika have appealed to Harare City Council to allocate them more time at the market so that they finish selling their produce. They told The Herald yesterday that they were allowed sell their crops between 6am and 12 noon. Bindura farmer Mr Richard

Mangena said the time allocated was not enough.
“Our situation is tricky. We come here in the morning and pay US$10 to do our business and whether you have completed or not you have to leave at midday. Most of the time we would not have sold enough even to break even after hiring transport and paying the council fees so we end up incurring heavy losses,” he said.
Mr Mangena said transporters were charging US$2 for every kilometre, which made it very difficult to remain in business.
Another farmer from Nyamuzuhwe in Mutoko, Mr Taedza Homwe said the time allocated for business was very limited.  He said the trading period should be extended to cover the whole day.
“As you can see I am selling green mealies but the market is depressed at the moment so I have to fork out more money to remain here than I will earn at the end of the day.
“I came here yesterday and I have since paid US$20 yet I have not sold anything meaningful. The mealies are fast losing their quality and soon I will be forced to dispose them at US$1 for a dozen,” he said.
When he arrived on Thursday, the mealies were selling for US$3 a dozen but yesterday they had slashed the price to US$2 for 12 cobs.