UNITED Kingdom buyers are seeking Zimbabwean sweet potatoes for export markets, presenting fresh opportunities for farmers, out-grower schemes and rural industrialisation as demand rises for nutritious orange-fleshed varieties.
The emergence of UK demand, according to authorities, signals growing confidence in Zimbabwe’s research-backed planting material systems and the country’s capacity to supply specialised export crops.
The sweet potato varieties whose planting materials are being produced using tissue culture at Kutsaga Research, are emerging as a high-value crop with strong export potential.
Tissue culture produces genetically uniform and disease-free plantlets for high-value crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, bananas, sugarcane, strawberries and a wide range of horticultural species.
The development was revealed by Kutsaga chief executive Dr Frank Magama during the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), where the research institution was showcasing technologies aimed at boosting food security, exports and value addition.
Dr Magama said local and foreign interest in Zimbabwe’s sweet potato value chain was growing, particularly around varieties suited for health-conscious consumers and food processors.
“The issue about food security is also all taken care of. Here we have got sweet potatoes. As you know, these do well in poor soils and sandy soils.
“Much more importantly lately is the orders that we are receiving from companies that want to buy and start out-grower schemes and export these to the UK market, especially the orange flesh varieties,” he said.
Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are increasingly popular globally due to their high beta-carotene content, which helps address Vitamin A deficiency while also meeting rising consumer demand for healthier foods.
The crop is also well suited to Zimbabwe’s semi-arid and drought-prone regions, where many communal and smallholder farmers require hardy crops capable of producing reliable yields under tough conditions.
Dr Magama said Zimbabwe had the technical capacity to meet rising demand through seedling multiplication systems already in place.
“At the moment our capacity is to produce six million seedlings of this at any given point. If we are given a contract, we can do six million over a period of about four months or about 18 million over a year,” he said.
Dr Magama said sweet potatoes also offered untapped opportunities in agro-processing and manufacturing.
“I think we have not started tapping into other things that can be done with sweet potatoes, including starch, including the value addition aspect of things — bread and also chips.
“All this value addition speaks to nutrition, income generation and rural development,” he said.
The revelation comes as Zimbabwe intensifies efforts to diversify agricultural exports beyond traditional commodities such as tobacco, cotton and conventional horticultural crops.
Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development, and the Ministry of Lands and Rural Development Professor Obert Jiri said State-linked agricultural institutions must drive innovation and growth through practical solutions that strengthen production and rural livelihoods.
“Our parastatals must innovate for growth. They must contribute to greater food security, greater nutritional security, economic development and agricultural-led economic development.
“Parastatals must contribute to what we believe in, which is rural transformation and agricultural transformation,” he said.
Prof Jiri said institutions such as Kutsaga must become relevant in both commercial farming areas and rural communities through programmes that unlock productivity and income generation.
“So we see them transforming to become relevant institutions, both in the commercial setting and also in the rural setting,” he said.
Experts state that organised out-grower schemes could help smallholder farmers participate in premium international markets while ensuring traceability, quality control and reliable volumes for buyers.-herald
