Poor infrastructure degrading our export fruit quality, HDC warns

Good roads are key for exporters. We need to get our produce to markets on time, and in good shape. Bad roads delay trade, and degrade fruit quality. This harms Zimbabwe's competitiveness in global markets.

At the recently-concluded Zimbabwe International Trade Fair held in Bulawayo, Horticulture Development Council (HDC) CEO, Linda Nielsen, urged the government to implement faster road upgrades to support trade. Photos below show damaged export fruit boxes on the Beitbridge highway. According to the HDC, our farmers lose up to USD 1/kg to such damage.

Zimbabwe's farmers pour their heart into growing top-quality produce, but bad infrastructure is working against their efforts to make Zimbabwean produce globally competitive.

Nielsen addressed government officials directly: "I represent an industry that exports fruit into the global market and part of our competitiveness is being able to get the product to market in a fit condition. Honourable ministers present here today, we are also quality disadvantaged when we get to the market on pricing because of the shocking state of the product when it arrives there having travelled the Beitbridge road."

She continued, "There is a section (16km stretch in a mountainous area according to a government rep who went on to assure delegates that the contracting companies had moved back on site with work to ensue shortly) that is still to be completed and my plea is to motivate the completion of that section but thank you very much for the work that has been done so far. This is a plea to continue, we desperately need it, we had our air freight service KLM ceased operations in Zimbabwe prior to this season and it is the start of a very challenging season for us."

The road issue compounds other logistical challenges facing exporters. Airlines are scaling back freight to Africa. In Zimbabwe, high costs and policies have hit crop output, weakening our bargaining power for limited cargo space. On March 28, after 28 years, we sadly bid farewell to Martinair/KLM. "We need urgent policy reforms to restore our competitiveness," Nielsen added.

Producers are now having to transport their fresh produce to market via road to South Africa for export, via OR Tambo airport and Cape Town and Durban docks for sea freight.

Clarence Mwale, the new HDC chairman, earlier this year, before the start of the horticultural export marketing season, expressed grave concern over the reduced export retention ratio for producers. "Many EU and UK companies want to work with us and our small-scale farmers and we are making good business plans and progress for the 2025 season. The announced new monetary policy, which includes a reduction in the foreign currency retention threshold from 75% to 70% for all exporters, is harsh on us and our small holder farmers, this coming after KLM announced cessation of cargo flights to Harare. It is a second tough challenge before the season even starts."