The ManicaPost
Luthando Mapepa
Chipinge Correspondent
MACADAMIA farmers in Chipinge are still to find lucrative markets for their crop despite the lapse of the peak of the marketing season.
The development has forced most farmers to sell their nuts to middle men who are reaping them off.
The continuous tumbling of the macadamia nuts producer price has resulted in the declining of the quality of the nuts produced by local farmers.
Farmers are arguing that after selling the crop there are not able to recoup all production costs ,especially paying the labour which maintains the orchards throughout the year.
Middlemen are offering around US$0,80 to US$1,10 per kilogramme.
During the good old days, farmers would get around US$3 per kilogramme, depending on the quality of the nuts.
Big companies such as Tanganda Tea, Ariston Holdings and Makandi are exporting the nuts directly to overseas markets, markets which local farmers are struggling to penetrate.
Macadamia Nuts Producers Association of Zimbabwe (MPAZ) secretary, Mr James Maisiri, said the fall of macadamia nuts prices was a result of local farmers failing to penetrate better and lucrative markets.
Mr Maisiri said this has led to the sprouting of a few big cartels that are making brisk business by offering low prices.
“As local farmers, we are yet to penetrate the lucrative foreign markets. Our major market was China, but it is no longer lucrative as they are now producing their own nuts.
“This has greatly affected our prices. Cartels have emerged and are buying the nuts for a pittance from desperate farmers. Many farmers are struggling to buy chemicals and inputs since their prices are continuously going up,” he said. Mr Maisiri added that the continued exporting of raw macadamia nuts is greatly affecting the local players.
“There is no win-win situation between local farmers and buyers who are getting more when they buy raw macadamia nuts. A ban should be imposed on the export of raw macadamia nuts,” he added. The country’s export promotion board, ZimTrade has urged farmers to form a strong association which links them to better markets abroad.
Zimbabwe has over 12 000 hectares of macadamia nuts and produces between 8 000 to 10 000 tonnes per annum.
