A group of 45 farmers in Rusitu Valley in Chipinge, a district in Zimbabwean eastern province of Manicaland have from December 2021 started exporting nearly 50 tonnes of their pineapples to the Netherlands.
These farmers were victims of Cyclone Idai, a tropical cyclone which hit their home area of Chipinge and Chimanimani in 2019, killing over 180 people, destroying 7,000 households and infrastructure and leaving 4,000 people food insecure. During this time, their pineapple crops were not destroyed.
Most of Zimbabwe’s prime farming areas incur heavy post-harvest losses because their produce often rots by the roadside as they struggle to secure markets and transport for their produce.
These challenges saw the the 1,300 Chipinge farmers establish the Rusitu Fruit Growers and Marketing Trust, that engaged with the country’s export promotion body, Zimtrade. Here, the farmers were offered training and technical expertise on how to grow pineapples organically and export to overseas markets.