By Hwande Sheunesu
A switch from field crops to horticultural crops has seen farmers in Gokwe Bomba, Zimbabwe improving their standard of living. Of late the production of sweet potatoes , tomatoes among other vegetables was known to be a general practice to boost food security at house hold level. Owing to a number of factors farmers are moving from field crops to horticulture among them is a decline in market price for cotton which was known to be the main cash crop around Gokwe area with climate change be another push factor where the rainfall pattern is continuously changing over the years.
It is a wake up call for many youth who are struggling to get employment even to the young mothers and single mothers who indulge in prostitution to eke a leaving. I therefore urge farmers to open up their eyes and start doing horticultural crops because of the elasticity of their demand on market. Many people are not affording bread for breakfast and they therefore opt for sweet potatoes this has increased the general demand for sweet potatoes in both growth points and small cities.
Zimbabwe is aiming at increasing the contribution of value added exports to total exports from 9% in 2020 to 20% by 2025. The blue print shall give rise to agro-processing industries for example the processing of raw tomatoes to tomato puree, this is also going to increase the market demand for the horticultural crop. The initiative has made Bomba a center for Agricultural products.
