Apple farming transforms lives in Zimbabwe
In the wake of this, apple farming has become a “life changer” and is currently employing over 1 200 individuals and supporting about 8 000 households and has the potential to employ over 2 000 individuals by 2020, Nyanga Deciduous Fruit Growers’ Association chairman Mr Edward Buwu has said.
In an interview recently, Mr Buwu said apple farming had so far employed 1 percent of Nyanga’s population and supports 11 percent households.
The three large-scale producers of apples in Nyanga are Claremont, Nyanga Downs and Nyamagaya. Claremont is working on 90 hectares of apples, while Nyanga Downs and Nyamagaya have 48 and 28 hectares respectively. “It (apple farming) has become a critical source of livelihoods for Nyanga people. Nyanga Downs will be replanting in two years and we are expecting massive expansion of apple farming in a few years to come. We are hoping that by the year 2020 it will have grown substantially.
“There are 60 021 males and 65 667 females in Nyanga, adding up to a population of 125 688. Of this figure, there are a total of 32 319 households of which 8 190 families are being supported by apple farming. This constitutes about 11 percent of the total families in the district,” he said.
Nyanga is blessed with optimum rainfall, and favourable chilling units which contribute to good yields. In Zimbabwe, commercial production of deciduous fruits is confined to the Eastern Highlands at altitudes above 1 400 metres to 1 950m above sea level.
He added: “The ideal weather has contributed immensely to the fine production of various fruits classified as pome, stone and passion products, which include apples, peaches and granadillas. There are more than 25 deciduous fruit producers in Nyanga and the area under apple production amounts to about 201 hectares. There is a bright future for apple farming.”
He noted that apple farming was, however, affected by imports which were coming from South Africa. “That is our major challenge. There is a high percentage of imports which are coming from South Africa. There is need for an urgent solution. Our local products need full support,” he said.
Source: manicpost.com