Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri

Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
GOVERNMENT has urged orange farmers in the country to improve on quality, as China is ready to purchase 45 000 tonnes of the fruit annually.

Addressing hundreds of people gathered for the World Wetland Day commemorations at Driefontein Grassland in Chirumhanzu on Friday, Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri–Kashiri said Government had signed agreements with Chinese fruit buyers for the supply of oranges and avocado pears.

“We have signed agreement with Chinese buyers for the supply of oranges and, therefore, our farmers should improve the quality of their fruits so that it makes it into the Chinese market,” she said.

“Please, note that we have a market for oranges and avocado pears in China, which requires us to improve the quality of the fruits so that we meet the grade required by the Chinese.”

Cde Muchinguri-Kashiri said even farmers in rural areas could engage in serious citrus production and earn a living from selling fruits to China, adding that Government was  willing to assist growers to produce quality fruits for the Chinese market.

She said after the successful agrarian reform, which saw the previously maginalised Zimbabweans getting land, it was time that beneficiaries embark of commercial citrus production that would earn the country much needed foreign currency.

“Research has shown that an orange or an avocado pear fetches around $5 in China,” she said.

“That amount is good and we call upon Zimbabweans who benefited from the agrarian reform to consider citrus growing. Jobs are not only found in Harare or other cities and towns, but even in the rural areas.”

Cde Muchinguri-Kashiri said it was saddening to note that the country continued to import fruits like grapes and apples from South Africa when the people had land.

Last year, Government tasked the Forestry Commission to spearhead its command agriculture programme targeting fruit tree production, which would see at least 25 million seedlings of various fruit trees being planted.

A Zimbabwean delegation to China in December 2017 facilitated agreements that could see Zimbabwean oranges hitting Chinese supermarket shelves as early as June this year.

The delegation was pleased by the readiness of Chinese buyers to purchase 45 000 tonnes of Zimbabwean oranges annually.

The trip followed an inward mission from China that approved the quality of Zimbabwean oranges for the Chinese market.

The trip was facilitated by the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe and the China Industrial International Group Zimbabwe, which supports local businesses to access China’s $23 trillion economy.