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Market access threatens Zambezi bumper harvests

Market access threatens Zambezi bumper harvests

KATIMA MULILO – Despite a bumper harvest of butternuts and pumpkins, farmers in the Zambezi region continue to struggle with limited market access. 

The situation has raised concerns about the region’s lack of a dedicated fresh produce hub. Speaking in an interview with New Era yesterday, local horticulture farmer Morgan Sai Sai vented his frustration over the saturation of the local market and competition from imports. 

“Marketing is still challenging. The local market is saturated, and most fresh produce on the market comes from foreign producers. There is contamination of foreign products. As a result, we can’t sell our produce exceedingly,” he lamented.

Unlike other regions, such as Kavango East (Rundu), Oshana (Ongwediva), and Khomas (Windhoek), which have fresh produce hubs, Zambezi lacks a similar facility.

This limits farmers’ ability to sell their crops at competitive prices. In addition to market struggles, farmers in the region are grappling with water shortages and pest infestations, particularly fall armyworms.

 These have devastated crops since November last year.

Sai Sai called on the ministry of agriculture to provide year-round assistance to farmers, including ploughing services, pesticides and farming equipment. “The line ministry needs to be available throughout the year. They should provide farmers with necessary services like tractors. We have an outbreak of worms, but they only gave a 16-millimetre spray can to some farmers, which is not enough. Some farmers don’t even know how to mix the solution before applying it to their crops,” he complained.

Despite these challenges, Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency (AMTA) interim managing director and former agriculture executive director Percy Misika reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to strengthening the agricultural value chain by ensuring reliable market opportunities for farmers.

As part of this effort, AMTA announced plans to establish a distribution centre in Zambezi to support horticulture farmers, and introduce a farmers market day in the 2025/26 financial year. AMTA on Monday hosted an engagement with farmers of the Zambezi region.

This initiative highlights strengthening the agricultural value chain by ensuring that local farmers have a reliable market for their products.

The engagement served as a platform for Zambezi farmers to tap into the horticulture trade, and start supplying AMTA’s fresh produce business hubs.

– anakale@nepc.com.na