Women plant the fruit of a better future

The 14-member Eastern Highlands Farming Co-operative built a passion fruit nursery that has not only changed their livelihoods but brought prosperity to this Eastern Highlands community.

In partnership with a local NGO called Project Nurture, the women have improved their business skills and diversified into a new market.

With Project Nurture’s assistance, the group sowed the first seeds in December 2010. Since then, the first vines have borne fruit and the women have realised a good profit from selling the passion fruit to different juice-making companies and individuals.

Double incomes

In an interview with The Zimbabwean last week, the NGO’s Projects Manager, Kenneth Mudefi, said his organisation was aiming to double the incomes of the farmers.

“Since 2010 we have laid the groundwork for a thriving, sustainable industry that can help farming families lift themselves out of poverty,” he said. “We have strengthened their business of growing the fruit, assisted them to sell it collectively and improved their bargaining power.”

Mudefi added that the NGO had facilitated training sessions on key skills for the farmers. Many of these trainings took place on the group’s plot, where the women received hands-on experience in preparing the land, planting the vines, controlling pests and diseases, managing the soil and harvesting the fruit.

Business training

“We are also providing business training for the group so that it can interact with buyers as equals and create more income for its members,” said Mudefi.

He said the NGO was analysing the market opportunities for passion fruit and helping to build relationships between buyers and the group. Most of the fruit is sold in local markets, but processors and export markets represent key opportunities for growth.

The chairperson of the group, Doreen Hukama, said: “We never knew the value of our passion fruit. Previously there was never a market for it so we would just let the fruit fall down on their own. The children would eat a few, and the rest were left to rot. But, with the help from Project Nurture we have seen that the fruit has money and we are happy with our lives right now.”

Export volumes

One of the members, Sekai Kuruma, said: “We can see that it has been a very good source of income for us. It has been helping me to pay school fees. It is something that has raised our standard of living.”

Hukama said with the help of Project Nurture, the group was working closely with a seasoned exporter – Liquid Fruit – to facilitate the sale of the passion fruit.

“These export volumes having been growing every season. We are also having business from local juice processors and we are hoping to be competitive globally,” she added. The women have also been working with financial institutions to gain better access to credit. Shylet Mwaturura, the Treasurer, said these loans had helped the group invest in the land. “This has been a great advantage for us as we have taken an initiative to advertise and market our fruit through various media,” she said.

With a market now available for their passion fruit, the women farmers have discovered a new source of income – and a new investment for their future.