Bweengwa Constituency Member of Parliament, MP, Highvie Hamundundu, wants government consider helping identify a market for Sweet potatoes being produced by women groups in Monze district in Southern province.
Mr Hamundundu says lack of well established markets for the produce is discouraging women to increase production of the crop.
Mr Hamundundu says government should facilitate market access for agricultural produce as a measure of encouraging diversification and enhanced performance of the sector.
He told ZANIS in Lusaka that sweet potatoes can significantly contribute to foreign exchange earnings if producers are availed access to regional and international markets.
He observed that the produce has high demand in some neighbouring countries hence the need for government to enforce deliberate measures to facilitate the export of the commodity.
He observed that cassava and beef from Zambia is on high demand in Nigeria due to a private sector driven policy.[quote]
“Zambian sweet potatoes are of high quality and demand in neighbouring Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe but I wonder why the Zambian government cannot find a good market for our products when other countries are doing it. I believe preserving and processing the sweet potatoes is another way of packaging sweet potatoes.
“Cassava and beef from Zambia is on high demand in Nigeria because of the private sector driven policy,” Mr. Hamundundu said.
According to Mr. Hamundundu, Monze district in Southern province has the capacity of producing over 400,000 metric tonnes of sweet potatoes annually that can greatly contribute to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
ZANIS
Naikosa nomba.
good thinking not just depending on copper
Am currently based in the Middle East and these farm produce would easily be sold only if our government formed trade ties with most gulf countries. The problem in Zambia is that we have leaders who are in office for self enrichment.
kandolo/ifyumbu
If SADC is for equal opportunities then those potatoes can be sold to Namibia where South Africa of domineering the vegetable market. Mr Hamududu has lived in Namibia for a long time and knows its one of the possible markets for Zambias cheaper sweet potatoes.
Yes, we should consider replacing sweet potatoes as next major export produce after phasing out copper. Good thinking. Better still we should phase out nickel and cobalt and replace them with kalembula exports. What about kanunka and bondwe? Good alternatives to emerald exporting. Our country is really going in the right direction.
not only do they need market for sweet potatoes but water Meloons ther is litrly no Market for them you see them get spoiled in kabwe road with no one to buy except for a few peaple who buy one or two for eating
#3 Totall agree with you. Lets bring whites back to rule and ypu will see progress
This is welcome. Gov’t should move in quickly and provide a platform if we are going to compete favourably in the recently lauched Customs Union.
Mr Hamududu already knows where the market for sweet potatoes is internationally, he has mentioned the countries. What he needs to do is to encourage business men and women to explore that market. No need to ask a dead govt to find market when they can not account for money from donors.
Tell those women to form a cooperative and have the cooperative have a representative who is going to market their products.
The govt has signed COMESA and SADC FTA’s and you want them to market the products for you again.
It is time we look for market based solutions at times. Form a cooperative and have the cooperative market the products to the markets where demand is high.
love sweet potatoes. when they’re in season i abandon nshima and eat sweetpotatoes with anything, be it chicken, meat, beans, fish…totally mind blowing
Oh to have Zambian sweet potatoes in TESCO, SAINSBURY’s etc! They are far much better than Puerto Rican, American and cheaper to bring to Europe than from New Zealand. If we can have those little useless chillies why not the sweet potato? Mr Mutati, wake up!
Sweet potatoes can be refrigerated and transported over long distances and sold fresh. Here in SA sweet potatoes are expensive and on high demand. Sadly enough, even Mahue with such a potential market in SA is not exported to SA! What is SADC for ???? We must get our Maheu and potatoes to SA markets just the way they do with their tomatoes, cabbages, Grapes, apples, etc. Why are they blocking us????
Sweet potatoes can be refrigerated and transported over long distances.
I am surprised to see that even Mahue with such a huge market in SA is not exported to SA markets. What is SADC for??
Kandolo….bafweniko abantu to find the market
This kandolo can be sold in SA. SA people do not have good Kandolo so our kandolo can take over their market.
Bring some to my place please! Ifyimbo fyaku S.A rubbish
Sweet potato fried chips with mayonaise as a deeping is just amazing people.
I AM SUPRISED THAT HON. HAMUDUDU DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO INFLUENCE POLICY DIRECTION. A SINGLE PEASANT POTATO FARMER COULD NOT BE TRUSTED WITH DELIVERIES BY A BIG BUYER IN ANY OF THE COUNTRIES MENTIONED INCLUDING THE MIDDLE EAST UNLESS CROSS BORDER TRADERS BUY TO GO AND SELL AT MARKETS IN THOSE COUNTRIES . TO FIND A STABLE MARKET THE PRODUCERS WOULD HAVE TO SET UP A BODY LIKE ZEGA OR GOVERNMENT WOULD HAVE TO BUY SWEET POTATOES THROUGH FRA AND THEN EXPORT. THIS WOULD ENTAIL HUGE EXPENSES IN BUYING AND REGFRIGERATION. MOST PEOPLE ON THIS BLOG FIND IT DIFFICULT TO THINK THROUGH ANY PROPOSAL FLOATED ON THE BLOG AND THE COST IMPLICATIONS OF SUCH PROPOSALS. IT IS NOT THE JOB OF GOVERNMENT TO DO EVERYTHING. ENTREPRENEURSHP IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CITIZENS.
Yes mwebantu thid can be a good source of revenue in our country,here Zambian sweet potatoes can be superb especially that SA’s ones ni gon’ga.Even kotapela can sell here.Hope the govt will do something.
Ka’doyo.
Mwashibukeni mudala?Hope all is cool with you ku cape town.
NKOLE WAMAPEMBWE UMFWE MILANDU
I totally agree with you that entrepreneurship is the responsibility of citizens. Even Lusaka Times is not the brain child of govt but innovative citizens.
That is why I suggested in my post on #11 that the farmers should form a cooperative that will market the products for them. The cooperative will have a representative and enable them to market their products as a single strong entity that buyers can rely on.
#23 Mat man Just the rainy 2 days, otherwise everything is cool. Was celebrating my one week anniversary on saturday. How are you doing yourself man?
hey matworld love the pic bra.. howz u doing? please plead with ba daisy to return.. the site is not the same anymore..really miss her
coming to kandolo.. ahh me i dont support kandolo..it almost killed me.. i was doped and hungry..lets just say i will never eat kandolo again..
Our MPs must learn to think outside the box. It doesn’t always have to be government to do everything. MPs should be able to organize their people into productive ventures ideal for their location. As an organized group (cooperative) its easier to source extra help, even funding & consultancy. There are numerous simple known village industries that could process sweet potatoes & preserve them (value addition) thus making it more cost-effective to transport long distances. Organizations like FAO have a lot of free information on such.
I find this Gov to be so silly , or let me say slow thinkers, these farmers are trying there best to produce these Kandolo, but are get no support . This is what Obama said while in Ghana, Africa can slove their own problem, but how ? if all the leadears are only in it for their own gain,
I sometimes buy sweet potatoes, mangoes, fresh fish, etc.. from markets in London, they are nothing compared to Zambian produce as far as taste is concerned. I miss them so much.
Don’t just look for market ya fyumbu fye . add value to the sweet potatoes make chips ,cakes and biscuits and export them to Congo DR.Botswana na ku UK – Good initiative though
Thats what we call thinking. Well done MP
Kandolo vishupu too much
This MP aleast is talking sense,
our government is too sleepy,they totaly fail to support and encourage these farms,our Government needs to create incentives for them,provide them with special loans,trains schemes etc,this people have entrepreuer ideas now its upto government to provide them with some incentives.
RICH ZAMBIANO U R MAD!
#21 NKOLE WAMAPEMBWE, I like your objectivity. Another thing is that we see things on our markets but for a reason I don’t know, we tend to think they just dropped from kaya. For example, did this MP think of crisps and chips from sweetpotatoes? Why should he just think of exporting raw materials in the form of sweetpotatoes? Should the government be the one to come up with methods of how potatoes are turned into chips or crisps? isn’t that the duty of entreprenuers? That is why I’ve issues with the university lecturers who cant train their graduates to from companies which can utilize the abudant raw materials. The department for food technology fails to think beyond raw materials. Or should the thinking in that line be done after government has increased funding to UNZA?
#8, go to hell.
Everyone else,
I think that Zambia should be less focused on consuming and growing maize, which is relatively expensive to grow (lots of water and fertilizer required), while more drought resistant crops can be grown and give bigger harvests. Sweet potatoes, cassava, sorghum, and Zambia has a huge potential for beef production (a single fully fed beef cow can be sold for USD $1200). A lot can be done through irrigation. Also, grazing can help improve the quality of soil, to where it becomes suitable for crops.
Zambia has a huge potential to grow in that direction.
RICH ZAMBIANO, all you hear is the brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sound! Please focus on the issue at hand of exports.
Hamunduundu that is not serious business the best would be to help those farmers be taught better ways of preserving the sweet potatoes being grown Monze. You have never heard of Chingovwa dfrom Solwezi. Those guys bring it to soweto and sells very fast. Those chaps are just being lazy to find a market. There are a lot of pipo in urban ereas where there is a ready market. How can one grow a crop before thinking of a market. Wake up you need to provide or spearhead better projects like eradicating dieases affecting animals in Southern Province and other erears. These are the type of MPs to represent us in parliament crying for GRZ to find market for Chingovwa. Let those farmers team up and bring their produce to Lusaka where there is high demand. I ve bin eating this since May 09 no bread.
#13. TESCO, already sells sweet potatoes from Southern Africa. But ask me which country supplies them-of course South Africa. I recently saw them in one of new TESCO super stores. I was curious to find out where they come from. One of TESCO shop assistants told me that they are imported from South Africa. Intially, I didnt believe him cose South Africa is not known for sweet potatoes-I thought they were from Uganda as they too export them here. Closer examination proved me wrong. TESCO, imports from any source.
cont. However, TESCO are of very high standards. Somehow one can even say they are equal to Waitrose and Marks & Spencer. But one thing you should bare in mind is they check physically the sources of their merchandise to confirm that such source conform to their standards. If they had to come to Zambia and just passby Soweto market and see how dirty it is, they may not even buy from the farmers. So, in the mean time it will only be SA and a few other African countries who will be enjoying the “Equal Trade”.
cont. Meanwhile, its not only sweet potatoes that can be exported from Zambia. One or two bloggers have mentioned water melons. However, we can also export avocadoes, pineapples, intoyo, impwa, mangoes, amasuku, insongwa, impundu, etc. Whilst in Zambia I used to export avocadoes to the UK small supermarkets, and man did I make money. But, this was just on a small scale and full of spanners allover the way. But, I can assure you iya T-Borne tayaleshupa.
cont. But as pointed out, the grz needs to come in becauase of its economies of scale to deal with marketing and any such exporting obstacles. Individuals from SA can manage coz they ve got the money and the country already has a reputation in terms of standards and honesty in business dealings. Occationally, I buy insongwa from Jamaica. But, they are not as taste as our insongwa. So, I have been wondering-why can’t Zambia export even ifitungulu which just grow wildly?
cnt. I am sorry to bother the blogship. But, some time back I read about a Zambian minister who visited Swaziland (or Lesotho). I was amazed they make drinks from pineapples. He was amazed, too that they manufacture stoves and freeges even for export to Europe. I thought he was a very dull and s.t.u.p.i.d. minister to be so ignorant of where juices are processed from. To market further his s.t.u.p.i.d.i.t.y., he said he was going to inform the Zambians that pineapple can produce very delicious drinks so that they stop wasting Mwinilunga pineapples. WHAT A SHAME!!!
NOW, to suggest some solution (and not just blame), to this export idea the GRZ should formulate an organisation for Sales and Market Research. Secondly, this body should create a website where to publish all Zambia’s produce-whether wild or cultivated. They should also globerly source markets for these for these produces. This organisation should work closely with the Zambia Beaurau of Standards and Mount Makulu Research for guidelines on the international standards. Farmers of of such produces should also be advertised on this website
cont. Against each produce, there should be full description of such a produce, preparation suggestiond, serving suggestion. With the help of our Zambia’s Food Technologists, the various way of processing such raw foods should be published. Better still the processing should be done in Zambia while we only export finished/processed products to maximise potential.
cont. Most importantly, clear and attractive images of these produces should be published. Most Zambians websites I have surfed (up to this technology age) are still full of text rather than pictures. On the internet, nobody wants to do a lot of reading. They want to see what one is talking about. Websites full of text are normally avoided, (unless otherwise).
In short Zambia can export thousands of food stuff to the global markets.
#20. Tere are a lot of things one can do with ifyumbu. Insemwa, can also be eaten in place of ubwali-I have never seen insemwa in Europe. Why can’t Zambia pioneer? Sweet potatoes can also be processed into powder for mash, and baking, etc. More than 2 years ago I visited Zambia and came back with a sack of sweet potatoes-Man wasn’t a huge saving as you know rice and nshima is very dear here. I also came back with a heap of avocadoes. I shared some with my friends and they really wondered what Zambia can produce. Their comments were, “so this is a very rich country, yeh!”
well, looking to g.r.z for help with this is wishful thinking. like for cassava and beef, how about a private sector driven policy for kandolo?? that’s sounds like THE plan to me.
I can’t believe what I am reading!! You guys you want co-operatives to come back??? Anyway I am happy because this is what I have been proposing in the past that co-operatives should NOT have been disbanded during FTJ’s rule, but allowed to operate on an open market according to market conditions. Those that survived the competition would be alive and kicking today and exporting sweet potaoes globally!!!. Those that wouldn’t have survived the competition, would have been declared bankrupt by a court of law!!!
Thanx to this I am more than ever convinced that Zambia’s future lies in state capitalism.
MPs have their thumbs up their asses they can’t tell a hole in the ground,this effing MP wants to look foe export markets when people in Zambia are starving why can’t he find a way of selling to the country,these Mps are so dumb they have redined the word stupidity in parliament……………
These potatoes can be consumed locally. It must have registered to some Zambians that we eat too much Nshima. It does not need to be like that! In fact many of us can not even imagine skipping Nshima for a day. Actually other foods lets say sweet potatoes can do just as good, we just need to learn how to prepare them. Diversification of our food is of utmost importance for many reasons including food security, nutrition etc. Having lived outside Zed, I only eat Nshima once in two weeks and its OK. So lets look carefully at our eating habits and think deep. Do we need to eat Nshima every day. I would say NO.
I thank Mr.Hamundundu was the great idea, lets start in SADC before we cross borders..