By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
HARARE — For decades, Zimbabwe has measured agricultural success in tonnes, hectares, and the number of farmers planting each season.
But according to the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, these indicators are no longer enough.
Speaking at a ZNCC-organised breakfast meeting on the sidelines of the 116th Zimbabwe Agricultural Show, ZNCC CEO Mr Christopher Mugaga on behalf of the President Ms Josephine Takundwa delivered a pointed message to a room of ministers, bankers, retailers, and farmers: harvesting is not the finish line. It is the starting point of value creation.
“The more important question is, what happens after harvest? Because harvesting is not the finish line.
“It is the starting point of value creation,” Takundwa said. “If production does not lead to income, something is broken. If markets exist but producers cannot access them, then we have a coordination failure”.
Her words captured the central challenge facing Zimbabwean agriculture as the country pursues an ambitious target of growing its agricultural economy to US$15 billion by 2030 — up from its current estimated value of US$5 billion.
Zimbabwe knows how to produce. Farmers produce. Financiers finance. Manufacturers process. Retailers sell. Exporters trade. Innovators create solutions. Yet too often, ZNCC Chief Executive Officer Mr Christopher Mugaga argued, these capabilities operate alongside one another rather than with one another.
The result is a paradox: production without prosperity, demand without supply, investment opportunities without investment, and products of exceptional quality that never reach the markets that value them most.
“The current phase of Zimbabwe’s agricultural transformation is not determined by what happens in the field alone,” Mugaga said.
“It is determined by how effectively we connect the field to finance, finance to technology, technology to markets, and markets to opportunity” .
The Door Is Open — What’s Standing in the Doorway?
Mugaga drew the room’s attention to significant opportunities that Zimbabwe is failing to fully exploit. African exports to China were valued at about US$285 billion — yet Zimbabwean agricultural products remain largely absent from major retail outlets and international markets..
Zimbabwe and China have built an export architecture protocol by protocol: citrus in 2022, avocado in 2024, and blueberries in 2025. From May 2026, Zimbabwe gained comprehensive zero-tariff access under a Pre-Early Harvest arrangement, alongside an upgraded Green Channel 2.0.
The early returns show what happens when a door opens. Blueberry export earnings rose 76 percent year on year to US$3.8 million in the first half of 2026, with volumes more than doubling from 900,000 kilogrammes to 1.9 million. Citrus earnings climbed 69 percent between January and April, with volumes rising 90 percent to 9.6 million kilogrammes.
Yet Mugaga’s question hung in the air: “If the door is open, what is still standing in the doorway?”
Three suspects emerged from the breakfast meeting’s deliberations.
First, compliance. A zero tariff is worthless to a grower who cannot meet a phytosanitary standard.
Access to China comes bundled with obligations: pest management systems, traceability from block to carton, registered orchards, inspection regimes, and export certification. Each of these is a cost, and each falls hardest on smaller producers who have the fruit but not the compliance infrastructure.
Second, market intelligence. A farmer who does not know that Zimbabwe’s blueberry harvest window runs against the Northern Hemisphere calendar cannot price into that advantage.
A packhouse that does not know which grapefruit specification a Chinese buyer wants will ship the wrong grade at the wrong time.
Third, geography. Zimbabwe is a landlocked country exporting perishables to Asia, which means every hour between orchard and vessel is a deduction from shelf life and therefore from price.
Cold chain integrity, road and rail reliability, and port access through neighbouring states remain persistent challenges.
Mugaga argued that Zimbabwe must move beyond repeatedly highlighting challenges such as transport and logistics and instead develop practical solutions that can improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the local agriculture sector.
He also called for scrutiny of competition within agricultural markets, including possible monopolistic and anti-competitive practices that could prevent farmers from accessing major retail outlets.
“If a farmer producing cannot reach the Food Lover’s Market, what could be triggering that challenge?” he asked, stressing the need to identify specific barriers preventing producers from accessing consumers.
The breakfast meeting was a convergence of two agendas that, according to the speakers, turn out to be the same agenda. The Zimbabwe Agricultural Society is asking how agriculture, technology, and commerce converge.
The ZNCC’s own 2026 theme — “From Resilience to Competitiveness: Charting a New Path for Sustainable Industrial Growth” — asks what comes after survival.
The pairing is more than branding. Resilience is what Zimbabwean agriculture has spent two decades proving: the capacity to absorb drought, currency shocks, and input shortages and still plant again. Competitiveness is a different discipline entirely.
It is measured not against last season but against a Peruvian avocado grower, a Chilean blueberry packhouse, and an Egyptian citrus exporter — all bidding for the same shelf.
Takundwa said agricultural growth should increasingly be assessed by the income generated by producers, market access, value addition, investment, and export performance — not by hectares planted or tonnes harvested alone.
Increasing yields and reducing costs are essential, she said, but access to profitable markets is fundamental to ensuring that farmers generate value.
Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development Business Development Director Mr Abraham Mashumba acknowledged the magnitude of the task, confirming that the sector is currently valued at US$5 billion with a target of reaching US$15 billion by 2030.
“The onus is on us to eliminate the headwinds that threaten the growth of the sector,” he said.
Mugaga issued a direct challenge to every institution represented: the breakfast meeting must not become another annual conversation — it must become an annual accountability platform.
His challenge was specific:
To Government: Create a policy environment that is predictable, responsive, and investment-friendly.
To financial institutions: Innovate around viable value chains rather than traditional collateral models alone.
To retailers and commercial buyers: Provide clear pathways for capable local suppliers to enter formal markets.
To producers: Invest in quality, reliability, standards, and business discipline.
To technology companies: Focus on solutions that demonstrably improve productivity, profitability, and sustainability.
To development partners: Support systems that scale rather than isolated interventions.
To ZNCC and ZAS: Convene, connect, advocate, and hold stakeholders accountable for results .
“The future of Zimbabwean agriculture is not simply about growing more,” Mugaga concluded. “It is about creating more value. Retaining more value. And sharing that value across the entire economy” .
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