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Edgar Vhera

Agriculture Specialist Writer

THE Horticultural Development Council (HDC) is advocating development of a 10-year horticulture investment policy with Government-backed incentives to steer sustainable growth of the sector.

In a twitter post yesterday, the HDC said a 10-year investment policy can provide stability and predictability as well as attract both domestic and international investors.

“Providing a clear framework for decision-making can help streamline the investment process and reduce uncertainty for investors,” said the post.

The quarterly seasonal update from HDC noted that though some factors had improved, more was needed to attract investment and boost horticulture growth.

Meanwhile the HDC said the three containers of lemon that left Beira recently and successfully docked at Jebel Ali were meant for United Arab Emirates (UAE) and not China as earlier reported.

This was disclosed by HDC chief executive officer Mrs Linda Nielsen in response to the publication.

“The three containers of lemons that left the country through the Beira Port and successfully docked at Jebel Ali Port, Dubai were for the Middle East market and not China,” said Mrs Nielsen.

Mrs Nielsen said the Beira Port was at the moment not approved for the movement of citrus to China under the Zimbabwe/China trade protocol with current exports only being done via Durban Port of South Africa.

“So far, we have exported 10 by 40 reefers of lemons via Beira Port under three different vessels. All of these have been shipped to Jebel Ali, with all fruit originating from Macheke district,” added Mrs Nielsen.

She said the HDC was reiterating that Zimbabwean citrus products to be exported to China have to adhere to all phytosanitary requirements and therefore currently only the Port of Durban met the cold sterilisation required by the Chinese market.

She also said that no lemons had been exported to China from Zimbabwe currently, though in future that might change as access through the Beira Port would be a potential game-changer for Zimbabwe.

“We are in discussion with a number of entities that are interested in developing cold storage in Beira,” Mrs Nielsen said.

The HDC was working with stakeholders to come up with appropriate financing models that will ensure the inclusion of new and emerging farmers into the citrus industry.

“We call on Government to implement sector specific incentives that will unlock critically needed domestic and foreign investment to increase production to take advantage of the opportunities that the opening of this market has offered to exporters,” said Mrs Nielsen.