HARARE
–
Zimbabwean
farmers
aim
to
capitalise
on
increasing
global
demand
for
blueberries,
but
self-funded
growers
like
Willard
Zireva
cite
a
lack
of
finance
and
minimal
government
support
as
barriers.
Despite
being
one
of
the
fastest
growing
blueberry
producers
globally,
with
production
doubling
to
7,000
metric
tons
last
year
due
to
a
favourable
climate,
Zimbabwean
farmers
are
struggling
to
secure
financing
for
their
operations.
Zimbabwe’s
horticultural
exports,
driven
in
part
by
blueberries,
exceed
$100
million
annually.
The
sector’s
exports,
which
peaked
at
$140
million
in
1999,
were
disrupted
when
former
President
Robert
Mugabe
began
the
seizure
of
white-owned
farms
to
resettle
landless
black
citizens.
Despite
the
sector’s
recent
growth,
banks
remain
wary
of
financing
agriculture
due
to
uncertain
land
tenure,
making
it
challenging
for
black
farmers
like
Zireva
to
expand.
Blueberry
farming
in
Zimbabwe
is
currently
dominated
by
the
few
remaining
local
white
farmers,
many
of
whom
are
looking
for
foreign
investment
to
expand
operations.
Zimbabwe’s
banks
do
not
accept
the
99-year
leases
handed
by
the
government
to
resettled
farmers
as
collateral
for
borrowing.
The
banks
also
tend
to
be
reluctant
to
lend
to
farmers
because
the
state
has
in
the
past
arbitrarily
acquired
farmland,
including
from
some
Black
commercial
farmers.
Zireva
cultivates
12
hectares
of
blueberry
crops
at
his
Talana
farm
100km
west
of
Harare,
which
he
bought
freehold
in
the
1990s
before
the
land
seizures.
He
said
that
he
had
to
rely
on
personal
savings
to
plant
his
first
crop
after
a
local
bank
denied
him
funding.
“If
funding
is
available,
there
is
a
massive
growth
opportunity,”
he
told
Reuters.
Growing
a
hectare
of
blueberries
in
Zimbabwe
requires
at
least
$100,000
to
import
plants,
peat
pots
from
Europe,
and
special
shades
for
the
crops.
Other
costs
include
refrigerated
packaging
warehouses
and
water
resources.
“We
need
interventions
and
interventions
have
to
come
from
the
government.
Nobody
else,”
said
Zireva,
referring
to
concessional
funding
for
farmers.
The
finance
and
agriculture
ministries,
as
well
as
the
Bankers
Association
of
Zimbabwe
(BAZ),
did
not
immediately
respond
to
requests
for
comment.
Zireva’s
farm
aims
to
export
120
metric
tons
of
blueberries
to
the
United
Kingdom
and
East
Asia
this
year,
but
he
says
the
demand
far
exceeds
their
ability
to
supply.
His
farm
requires
$1.2
million
to
double
output,
he
added.
“We
are
hoping
that
we
can
get
funding
next
year
to
put
in
eight
hectares
so
that
we
get
to
20
(hectares),”
Zireva
said.
Zimbabwe’s
Horticultural
Development
Council
(HDC)
said
the
lack
of
long-term
finance
was
a
significant
barrier
to
the
sector’s
plans
to
double
blueberry
hectarage
to
1,500
hectares
by
2030.
HDC
CEO
Linda
Nielsen
told
Reuters
that
without
funding
“we
will
see
growth
in
the
blueberries
sector
coming
off
on
the
tonnage
side.
We
really
need
to
grow
the
hectarage
and
maintain
our
market
share.”
–
Reuters