Food Lovers say local farmers can’t meet demand

Wed, 17 Jan 2018 15:35:05 +0000

By MAILESI BANDA

FOOD LOVERS market imports over 80 percent of the fruits they stock from South Africa due to limited production capacity by local farmers.

Food Lovers, Makeni branch manager, Himanga Wamunyima said while the only three  stores in Zambia stock about 98 percent of the vegetables getting enough fruits for the three shops in Lusaka is a challenge.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Wamunyima said over 500 local producers are supplying the store with vegetables and fruits 200 of which supply the Makeni Mall shop.

He said access to Food Lovers for farmers has provided a platform for small-scale farmers to expand.

“Eighty percent of the vegetables sold at all our three stores in Zambia are sourced from local farmers and we only import when there is a shortage,” Mr Wamunyima said

He explained that Food Lovers market deals directly with the farmers and that this allows the farmers to negotiate for a good price depending on the quality of produce. He noted that this system has helped the farmers make more money on their produce.

“We have an open door policy and we have over 500 local producers, 200 of which supply the Makeni Mall shop in Lusaka,” he said.

Mr Wamunyima lamented that 80 percent of the fruits stocked  in the market are imported because of  failure  by farmers  to produce enough.

Mr. Wamunyima  challenged farmers and local food producers to ensure they meet the demand being created by the sector by producing more. Mr Wamunyima explained that to get quality produce from the farmers, they conducted business tours at production sites and encouraged farmers to produce quality vegetables and also recommended packaging quality for the various products.