Story by Mercy Bofu-Matinha
SESAME farmers in Mwenezi are celebrating new market opportunities after a processing plant was established in Rutenga.
The plant is part of a US$1 million multi-service centre spearheaded by Sustainable Agriculture Technology (SAT) in partnership with the government, where a ready market and employment opportunities are transforming lives.
Farmers are basking in the glory of improved income, which comes with a bonus of value addition before marketing their crop.
“As Sesame farmers here in Mwenezi, we are happy with the establishment of this plant because before, we used to sell our crop to illegal buyers mainly from Mozambique. When this plant was established, we became shareholders, hence our crop is brought here, value added here and then sold either locally or to regional and international markets,” Mr Vengai Villah said.
“We formed our association as sesame farmers called Sesame Growers Association and being shareholders to this plant after exporting our value-added crop, we gain foreign currency, hence we can send our children to school and improve our livelihoods,” Mr Clever Sibanda added.
The Japanese Embassy has emerged as an able partner after handing over sheds and containers to SAT and sesame farmers this Thursday to expand value-added capacity.
“This initiative is part of a broader project supported by the World Food Programme, funded through a contribution of approximately US$5 million from the government of Japan. The programme aims to promote climate resilience and sustainable agriculture among 37 000 smallholder farmers across five districts in Zimbabwe. SAT serves as an implementation partner, and the value-added sesame is expected to be exported to Japan. A key player in this value chain will be ITOCHU Corporation, a Japanese trading company,” Japanese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Shlinichi Yamanak said.
The sesame value addition plant is part of the government’s rural industrialisation drive.
“The Sesame value addition plant here at the Mwenezi Multi-Service Centre is therefore strategically positioned and will play a key role in the aggregation and cleaning of huge sesame volumes in support of this initiative. This new partnership with the Government of Japan will also help us curb the massive illegal smuggling of Sesame through our porous borders into nearby Mozambique, which the Agricultural Marketing Authority, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and other key actors have been battling to address in the past few years,” Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Honourable Ezra Chadzamira stated.
SAT’s Deputy Country Director, Mr Lloyd Masunda, noted that for the past two seasons, they have exported nearly 500 metric tonnes of sesame with Japan being the biggest market.
“AS SAT, we have been here for the past three years. In our first year of operations, we managed to value-add only 21 tonnes of Sesame and in our second year, we got 250 tonnes. This year we are pleased to report that our target is 400 tonnes and now we are working with more than 8 000 farmers in Mwenezi and Chiredzi district.”
With Sesame growers now able to sell their produce locally while exporting to regional and international markets, the project is strengthening the rural industrialisation drive.
