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Monalisa Chikwengo
FARMERS in Chivi district’s Mashava area have been urged to tap into garlic production for export through assistance from the national trade development and promotion agency (ZimTrade) and PUM, a Netherlands-based business support organisation.

The call came as ZimTrade and PUM experts recently held a technical intervention tour at the Maponga-Allanvale Farm in Mashava, where issues to explore the export potential of garlic were discussed as part of the export development program.

ZimTrade’s eastern business regional development manager, Mr Admire Jongwe stated that the internal market for garlic in Zimbabwe was small as only 200 tonnes of garlic were consumed annually.

“The production of garlic in Zimbabwe is around 3 000 tonnes per year. From this analysis, 2 800 tonnes can be exported on an annual basis.

“To ensure surplus production finds a place in international markets, we need to produce a product that meets international standards,” he said.
To increase the export potential of garlic for Zimbabwe, it is imperative that farmers are educated on the requirements for the international market.

“This means that the quality of the garlic bulbs produced for the international market should be of improved quality for a sustainable garlic production chain.
“Also, we want to enlarge the internal Zimbabwean garlic market by promoting the its general health benefits and its use as a valuable spice in domestic dishes,” he added.

ZimTrade invited a PUM expert from the Netherlands to help with the deliberations of how best the whole value chain can be assisted.

“13 farmers from different wards within the Mashava area and two Agritex officers were present to learn from the expert,” said Mr Jongwe.

The production of garlic was being done by subsistence farmers in Zimbabwe with production from this group around 90 percent.

Mr Jongwe said that the PUM expert held demonstrations on bed preparations, planting, watering and post-harvest storage. He also shared insights on how to grow the product organically, as the world market has become more health-conscious.

“The price for organically produced products tends to attract more on the international market as opposed to conventionally grown garlic,” continued Mr Jongwe.

ZimTrade noted that there was need to increase the frequency of the trainings, workshops and farmer field schools to solve the unequal distribution of knowledge within the farmer groups.

“We facilitated the formation of large farmer groups for efficient knowledge transfer in terms of eco-friendly cultivation, good agricultural practices (GAP) and organic certification issues,” he said.