Pride Mahlangu, Business Reporter

ZIMBABWE needs to invest in a cold chain management system in the agriculture sector to ensure improved storage and quality of farm produce.

Matabeleland North provincial crop and livestock development officer, Mr Dumisani Nyoni, said this at a recent World Food Day round table discussion in Bulawayo, which ran under the theme: “Healthy diets and livelihoods for a #ZeroHungerZimbabwe”. 

The event attracted a diverse audience and had panelists drawn from the Ministries of Health and Agriculture, nutritional specialists and non-governmental organisation representatives.

“Zimbabwe needs to invest in cold chain management systems right from the production level at an irrigation scheme or at farm level, whereby farmers will then harvest clean produce, grade it and put it under refrigerated cool temperatures to maintain the quality and shelf life of the product,” said Mr Nyoni.

He said fresh farm products should be carried from the fields to the market by refrigerated trucks, which maintain the quality of the product and prolongs its shelf life.

“If you look at what is happening today in Zimbabwe, we are attracted to products from our neighbouring countries because they have a cold chain management system.

“Their produce gets to Zimbabwe in very good quality, so fresh and very attractive,” said Mr Nyoni.

“Yet our own products are produced under hot conditions graded under sunny conditions and there is no refrigeration to improve the shelf life of the product. So, as a result quality deteriorates and we begin to have more and more losses accruing, which at the end of the day robs the farmer of income. Even the middleman is also affected because some of the products will get spoiled before they get to the consumer.”

Mr Nyoni said financial resources were needed to establish a vibrant cold chain system and challenged farmers to improve on their infrastructure at the farm as well as those operating at irrigation schemes.

He advised farmers to consider buying refrigerated trucks and setting up refrigerated warehouses where the produce is collected so that the distribution to wholesalers and retailers will be done on products that are already preserved in terms of quality.

Some of the countries that have invested in the cold chain management systems are Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

“Some products that we buy from Food Lovers are coming from as far as New Zealand, but if you go there it will still be very fresh, if you look at kiwi fruit, for instance, it comes from New Zealand,” said Mr Nyoni. — @pridesinstinctz