… They are slated to benefit in EU, ITC training
BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE- The European Union (EU), and International Trade Centre (ITC), in collaboration with the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, have joined forces to improve the competitiveness of 3 000 smallholder vegetable farmers under Ufalme PTY Ltd.
Ufalme is active in the farming, production, sales, and distribution of horticulture produce. The company is currently working with 3 000 vegetable farmers across the country who supply local supermarkets. Their biggest challenge, according to George Nyandoro was maintaining quality, especially because their produce in local retailers was placed side by side with imports.
The EU through its partners, the ITC, in collaboration with the Government of Eswatini brought in experts to train Ufalme on good agricultural practices, standards, and food safety to make sure that they reach international standards so that they can then replicate that training to the rest of the 3 000 farmers they work with.
Just recently, a group of farmers graduated from the first set of the training run by Ufalme through the support of the EU and ITC. The graduation held at Siphocosini High School was attended by Minister of Agriculture Jabulani Mabuza, EU Ambassador to Eswatini Dessislava Choumelova, and Chief Jabhane from Siphocosini.
This initiative is part of the ‘Eswatini Promoting growth through competitive alliances’ project which is funded by the EU whose aim is to support job creation for small farmers, entrepreneurs, and artisans.
Speaking on behalf of farmers who benefited from the training, Letty Mhlanga, said the training will help them to maximize production to meet both the local and export market demand.
“We thank the EU and ITC for supporting us. We hope that they will continue supporting us. Looking at the local, regional, and global market demand for food, we do not doubt that our production needs to go up and we must produce high-quality produce that will be competitive in all available markets. This will also help us to create sustainable jobs. We want to create permanent jobs in the agribusiness sector,” she said.
Minister of Agriculture Jabulani Mabuza said he believed that those who have been trained will make a huge impact in the country. “The good agricultural practices and farm operations planning and management training will undoubtedly be useful to the farmers as they venture into true commercial operations. We also encourage them to share the knowledge they have acquired with others to create a ripple effect for good agricultural practices,” he said.
EU Ambassador to Eswatini, Her Excellency Dessislava Choumelova encouraged the farmers to stick to farming, “continue learning, and working together. Eswatini can produce many fantastic foods. I have been to many places around the world and I have never seen so fertile, so much water, and so much good climatic conditions to produce food. You have to produce your food to make profits and to export it.”
She further assured them that the EU will continue to support them through funding and by bringing in partners and people with expertise like the ITC and Ufalme.
ITC Acting National Coordinator Thulile Zwane said they were impressed by the farmer’s commitment to what they do. “In all my experience in development, I have never worked with a group that knows exactly what they need,” she said.
Ufalme PTY Ltd Managing Director George Nyandoro said they give farmers schedules to grow vegetables, engage supermarkets, and collect the produce from farmers to the market.
“We have well-trained experts in horticulture from the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) who assist our farmers. Furthermore, through the assistance of the EU and the ITC, we are taking our farmers through pieces of training including good agricultural practices, farm operations, and planning because we want them to move from subsistence to commercial farming,” he said.
Nyandoro encouraged the trained farmers to go back to their farms and continue working hard and using the knowledge they have gained.
“Between the years 2025 and 2045, the biggest business in the world will be agribusiness. Most sectors could shrink, but agriculture will stand. So, to all farmers, you are in the right business, you are in the right place,” he said.
