Fresh fruit, vegetable farmers struggle

MASERU – Lesotho’s fresh fruit and vegetable farmers are struggling to meet the huge local demand leaving businesses frustrated, thepost heard this week.
A farm assurer, Nthako Supu, said farmers need to be helped to meet standards for good agricultural practices.

Supu was part of the 50 horticulture and livestock assurers who received certificates after a year-long training programme in the Green Value Chains and Local Supplier Development Programme last week.

Farm assurers are independent, onsite advisers and consultants who help producers navigate the steps necessary to implement Good Agricultural Practices and to obtain Global Good Agricultural Practices Certification.

“We need a consistent supply of fresh produce and a very consistent quality for us to meet the market (demands) as it is a requirement,” Supu said.

“If we want to be globally certified, we really need good agricultural practices as the market requires,” he said.

“We need safe, fresh, good shelf-life and food that is looking good and the standard should help us meet those qualities so that we should help the farmers to supply good products.”

He said the Maluti Fresh Market has been operating for the past six months but there have been challenges for small-holder farmers that need to be addressed.

“Our local farmers have a thick problem when it comes to consistency. Our produce is for a short time. Our farmers need to be supported,” he said,

He said they have 350 registered farmers but only 45 of them are active.
Another challenge, he said, is that everyone with a plot calls themselves farmers and only manages to supply once in a year.

Supu said farm assurers need to invest all their powers in helping farmers.

“We should have solutions to farmers to help them grow their production.”

He said potatoes, tomatoes, beetroot, apple, onion, cabbage amongst others do very well in the market and local farmers should focus more on them.

“This will help reduce dependence of imported produce.”

He said the local farmers do not have any problem with producing quality food but their problem is consistency.
He said farmers need to be supported financially.

The project to train farm assurers was implemented collaboratively with the Local Supplier Development Programme (LSDP), a four-member partnership including Standard Lesotho Bank, FinMark Trust, the Lesotho National Development Corporation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The Finmark Trust Country Coordinator, ’Mamalala Sematlane, said the LSDP aims to promote local agricultural productivity and capacity to supply the local market as well as existing and future potential export demand in selected sectors and industries.

Sematlane said for the first three years, 2021 to 2023, the focus is on horticulture and livestock sub-sectors.

’Mapule Motsopa