THE recent addition of the orange-fleshed sweet potato to the nation’s food basket by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement is a giant step towards improving exports of sweet potatoes and livelihoods of farmers.

peaking during the launch of the programme, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr John Basera, noted that the new variety will contribute to diversifying the food and nutrition system as well as improve income sources.

This means that smallholder and communal farmers are tipped to benefit more through the adoption of the orange-fleshed sweet potato.

Improved livelihoods through adoption and increased production of diversified crops is underpinned in the Horticulture Recovery and Growth Plan launched by President Mnangagwa last year to revitalise the agricultural sector in line with the vision of making Zimbabwe an upper middle-income economy by 2030.

Apart from improving livelihoods, the recovery and growth plan also targets integration of smallholder farmers and out growers into the export market through mentoring and the identification of special horticulture development zones.

The need to integrate smallholder farmers into the export market, therefore, is a target that will be easily achieved if production of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes is increased across the country.

Why farmers should be excited about the new variety

There is already a growing demand for orange-fleshed sweet potatoes in major markets such as the Netherlands, which offers export opportunities for local farmers.

The demand is backed by growing interest to consume super-foods across the world and sweet potatoes are touted to be rich in dietary fibre, complex carbohydrates, and beta-carotene, with reasonable contents of other micro-nutrients which include vitamin B5 and B6 as well as manganese.

The product is also known to promote a normal functioning of the nervous system and normal psychological function as well as reducing tiredness and fatigue.

Although there are several varieties of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, international markets require mostly the Bearuguard variety and to a lesser extent Covington variety.

According to the Netherlands Centre for Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries, the Spanish Beauregrad and American Covington varieties cover 95 percent of the European market.

The Beaureguard variety is regarded as probably the world’s most popular sweet potato.

It is favoured for its high yields and is known to stay longer in storage.

Most parts of Zimbabwe have rich soils suitable for growing the Beaureguard variety.

The Covington sweet potato variety is usually grown to small-to-medium in size and is slender and long.

This sweet potato is a favourite for mashing or roasting, and it has a rose-coloured skin and super-sweet orange flesh which is firm, dense and remains bright when cooked.

During a business-link mission organised by ZimTrade — the national trade development and promotion organisation — and Netherlands-based PUM in 2019, buyers in the Netherlands indicated they are willing to import from Zimbabwe if local farmers produce the right variety at the expected quality and quantity.

A follow-up visit by one of the biggest buyers, distributors and processors in Europe revealed potential for Zimbabwean sweet potatoes to penetrate the European market.

The buyer noted that the Zimbabwean-grown sweet potato is of high quality and has good taste, and that farmers’ only need to increase capacity in line with international recommended standards.

Regarding plans to boost production, President Mnangagwa’s elaborate Horticulture Inputs Scheme, implemented under the Horticulture Recovery and Growth Plan will focus on production of sweet potatoes,  potatoes, and cassava.

The recovery and growth plan also expands the Pfumvudza concept to cover provision of viable varieties of sweet potatoes to rural communities.

Such programmes, coupled with export development programmes offered by ZimTrade and related institutions, will go a long way in creating enough capacity necessary to boost exports of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes.

A look at current potential

According to available data from Trade Map, the global market value of sweet potatoes imported in 2019 was about US$701 million, up from US$565 million in 2018.

The import volumes of sweet potatoes increased from 450,970 kgs in 2015 to 844,472 kgs in 2019.

From the statistics, the two largest importers of sweet potatoes in 2019 are the Netherlands (159 tonnes) and United Kingdom (137 tonnes), which are already leading trading partners for Zimbabwe’s horticultural produce.

In 2019, the Netherlands was the top importer, having imported US$157 million worth of sweet potatoes, accounting for 22,5 percent of global trade.

The United Kingdom imported sweet potatoes worth US$107 million while Germany was the third largest market, importing US$57 million worth of sweet potatoes in 2019.

This this makes it easy for local farmers to increase exports of sweet potatoes, leveraging on current performing produces.

By focusing on the Netherlands, local farmers can tap into established routes created by the country into Europe. CBI notes that a large quantity of the sweet potatoes entering mainland Europe are traded through the Netherlands.

From here sweet potatoes are distributed to countries such as Germany, France, Sweden, Finland as well as the United Kingdom.

The European Union (EU) alone accounted for 73, 1 percent of the global market share in world imports of sweet potatoes in 2019, making it a good potential market for growers.

Given the import figures in Europe, the market presents opportunities for Zimbabwean farmers who can leverage on the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA), which offers duty free and quota-free market access to the European Union market.

Apart from the European market, there are also opportunities in emerging markets such as United Arab Emirates, Japan, Thailand and Singapore.

According to Trade Map, Japan has recorded an increase in import value of sweet potatoes from US$16, 4 million in 2015 to US$20, 7 million in 2020.

During the same period, imports of sweet potatoes grew in Thailand and Singapore from US$11, 6 million and US$9, 5 million to US$17, 4 million and US$13, 7 million, respectively.

Regional markets such as Angola and Namibia are some of the easy-to-access markets offering opportunities especially for smallholder farmers who can leverage on the African Continental Free Trade Area that will offer improved market access.

Increasing export earnings

As farmers improve production of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, they need to take cognisance of supply windows to Europe — which is currently the largest market — as this will improve their earnings.

For instance, Zimbabwean farmers stand a good chance to earn premium prices between April and June when other major suppliers like Egypt, Senegal and Spain are out of the market.

Exporting farmers will therefore need to plan their planting periods so that their selling period will coincide with the window period when Zimbabwe enjoys a larger market.

When exporting to Europe, the market tends to demand a strict adherence to standards.

EU buyers are highly concerned with quality certifications, plant health compliance (phytosanitary requirements), as well as social and environmental certification, such as minimal use of pesticides and employee welfare.

CBI notes that pesticide residues are one of the crucial issues for fruit and vegetable suppliers.

This is a voluntary certification standard that European, and now some Middle East, buyers insist on before one can become a supplier.

Special consideration should also be placed around packaging and logistics arrangements.

The current trends are that other countries have moved to bulk, collapsible and retainable containers which saves costs for farmers.

Further to exporting raw sweet potatoes, local businesses can also consider value addition to earn more.

Sweet potato chips, crisps and sweet potato flour are some of the value-added products that can be produced at low cost by local businesses.

Allan Majuru is ZimTrade chief executive.