Business / Local
Chipinge business community urges Govt to help establish processing plant
15 Aug 2013 at 21:51hrs | Views
THE Chipinge business community has urged Government to consider establishing a processing plant in the district in order to tap and utilise various fruits abundant there.
In an interview, Chipinge Business Initiative chairperson, Mr James Gabaza, expressed concern over the low demand for citrus fruits due to their abundance in most parts of the district.
"We have plenty of citrus fruit trees which grow naturally like avocado pears, guavas, oranges, bananas and naartjies among others. The fruits have potential to generate millions of dollars for villagers if they are processed into finished goods locally.
"We therefore urge Government to court investors to help in the establishment of a processing plant in the long term for us to realise maximum benefits from the fruits.
"However, in the short term, the provision of transport to take the fruits to the market and intervention of private players may assist," he said.
Villagers expressed concern over low uptake of various fresh produce from surrounding areas.
They said scarcity of markets was forcing many to look outside Chipinge for customers, a move which is costly.
"There are plenty of naartjies, oranges, bananas, guavas and avocado pears in the district, but no-one is buying them. We are forced to take our fruits to Chiredzi or Beitbridge where they fetch better prices," said Mr Samson Sithole.
He said they were also grappling with transport challenges, a move which will see them incurring huge losses as their produce rots while on transit. "We rely on haulage trucks for transportation since we cannot afford to hire trucks. This is a challenge on its own as we can go for three days sleeping in the open waiting for transport. We lose a lot of produce in the process," he said.
A trader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at one time he was forced to abandon his trip to Chiredzi after spending six days on the roadside without getting transport.
"Several times I was forced to abandon trips to Chiredzi after failing to get transport. At one time I spent six days on the roadside and it was painful to watch my 7x 90kgs of naartjies rotting. Several people have been forced to call off their trips or travel after four days, resulting in them incurring huge losses as the quality of their produce would have deteriorated.
"We urge Government to establish a plant which can process them into juice or other products. However, in the short term, we implore private players in the beverage or fast moving goods industry to consider Chipinge as a source of raw materials," he said.
In an interview, Chipinge Business Initiative chairperson, Mr James Gabaza, expressed concern over the low demand for citrus fruits due to their abundance in most parts of the district.
"We have plenty of citrus fruit trees which grow naturally like avocado pears, guavas, oranges, bananas and naartjies among others. The fruits have potential to generate millions of dollars for villagers if they are processed into finished goods locally.
"We therefore urge Government to court investors to help in the establishment of a processing plant in the long term for us to realise maximum benefits from the fruits.
"However, in the short term, the provision of transport to take the fruits to the market and intervention of private players may assist," he said.
Villagers expressed concern over low uptake of various fresh produce from surrounding areas.
They said scarcity of markets was forcing many to look outside Chipinge for customers, a move which is costly.
"There are plenty of naartjies, oranges, bananas, guavas and avocado pears in the district, but no-one is buying them. We are forced to take our fruits to Chiredzi or Beitbridge where they fetch better prices," said Mr Samson Sithole.
He said they were also grappling with transport challenges, a move which will see them incurring huge losses as their produce rots while on transit. "We rely on haulage trucks for transportation since we cannot afford to hire trucks. This is a challenge on its own as we can go for three days sleeping in the open waiting for transport. We lose a lot of produce in the process," he said.
A trader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at one time he was forced to abandon his trip to Chiredzi after spending six days on the roadside without getting transport.
"Several times I was forced to abandon trips to Chiredzi after failing to get transport. At one time I spent six days on the roadside and it was painful to watch my 7x 90kgs of naartjies rotting. Several people have been forced to call off their trips or travel after four days, resulting in them incurring huge losses as the quality of their produce would have deteriorated.
"We urge Government to establish a plant which can process them into juice or other products. However, in the short term, we implore private players in the beverage or fast moving goods industry to consider Chipinge as a source of raw materials," he said.
Source - Manicapost
