GREENHOUSES I SHADE NET I HYDROPONICS I AQUAPONICS
Markets are important parts of infrastructure in major towns and cities. These must be well-managed to draw clientele and service the producer with excellence. (Pics: Fresh Plaza)
Fresh produce markets outlook – what about food security?
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report was given by Francois Knowles, Registrar at APAC, as of the end of February 2022 that indicates produce sold at markets grew by 6.8% (negative growth of 0.3%). The volume traded in 2020/21 at markets was 3 266 366 metric tonnes of produce (fruit and vegetables). There are factors though that influences a measure of hesitancy by some producers to increase or just keep going, mega farmers need to go back to the drawing board to accommodate the increased fuel prices and the exacerbated fertilizer cost. A major concern, however, is the general infrastructure that is not being serviced by local and state governmental bodies. Poor road conditions in country areas where farmers have to transport their produce to markets are in a dilapidated state with potholes and road surfaces washed away or simply just obliterated because of absent maintenance. Infrastructure issues By way of example; a producer from far out of town needs to transport his tomatoes, cabbage or other delicate vegetables via a road with potholes every few meters; a wheel or axle breaks because of the road condition and the truck stands for hours in the sun. When the product eventually reaches the market it fetches a lower
than anticipated price. Never mind when it reaches the retail shelf and it is not sold as it is in an underrated state in the eyes of the consumer. Here government and specifically the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development (DALRRD) should sharpen their pencils and make their voices heard at local and national meetings with Public Works, Transport, Minerals and Energy, Labour, and others. Various platforms are used to emphasize land reform, new farmer policies, and financial aid; but if current producers are faced with the obstacles mentioned above, what motivation does it bear to newcomers, even if one gets land free? Everybody in the world is crying out for increased food production, food security, higher vegetative content foods for healthy living, and what more – but how on earth are we going to get the producer to answer to this enormous challenge if we do not give him the infrastructure he direly needs to get his produce to markets?
State of Fresh Produce Markets Another major obstacle is the lack of local management at markets. Buyers visit markets and the security system, to say the least, is absent as trucks, bakkies and cars are being broken into and thus buyers are endangered. Worse than
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Clean markets with well displayed produce draw buyers, but sadly, poorly managed and rubble on floors and around markets disdain buyers from attending.
Undercover farming I March/April 2022 I Volume 19 No 2 7
