Thousands of small holder farmers are set to benefit from a revived out-growers scheme by recovering food processing firm, Cairns Holdings, it has been established.
In a press release, subsidiary agro processing unit Cairns Food, operations manager, Joseph Mavu, said the firm has re-launched contract farming in six provinces after it had been stopped in 2007.
Manicaland will have 500 hectares of the 800 hectares earmarked for the out–grower scheme project while other provinces Midlands, Mashonaland East, West and Central and Masvingo will take up the remaining 300 hectares.
Mavu said in Manicaland at least 1100 households will benefit directly from the project, while the 300 ha in other provinces will benefit 660 households.
“When it is fully operational, the Cairns scheme is targeting to cover 800 hectares. Five hundred hectares will be in Manicaland while the remaining 300 will be absorbed by other provinces.
“In Manicaland alone, approximately 1100 households are expected to benefit from this scheme, with 660 more benefitting in the rest of the country,” said Mavu.
Mavu said the farmers benefitting from the scheme undergo a thorough selection process involving Agritex officers, internal Agronomist as well as the leadership of the irrigation cooperatives.
Cairns Holdings has also re-branded its Cashel Valley baked beans and Sun Jam brands, in an effort to recapture their declining market share.
Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Guzha said the firm will seek to reduce production costs by improving capacity utilization through installation of new machinery from injected investor capital.
She re-branding and the re-launch of its out-growers scheme, a re-adoption of its traditional contract farming model, will also improve competitiveness and impact positively on rural livelihoods.
“We are re-launching this programme as a sign of our renewed focus and vision following the hyperinflation period of 2007 which saw this company entering a phase of viability challenges.
“We stopped contract growing and we still bear the scars of that period, where we even went under judicial management for three years, even now our factories are not operating at full capacity,” she said.
“Last year we then got an investor who injected capital into our company and we are now rebuilding a company to its former glory, to regain our international market share.”
Guzha said as a corporate citizen Cairns was geared to promoting the local agricultural industry by adding value through its processing units.
“As a responsible corporate citizen we are going to do what we can to improve our productivity so that when we appeal for assistance from government we will be seen to be doing our part.
“One of the things we have decided to do is to re-launch our product range but we have undertaken to readopt contract farming to avoid importing agricultural produce, so we have made an undertaking to return to our traditional model of doing business,” she said.
She said under this contract farmers will receive inputs including seed, fertilizer, chemical as a well as a sit in agronomist to assist with technical expertise, for quality assurance and productivity.
“We want to assure the farmers that we are going to be providing you with seed and input as well as our sit in agronomist to assist you with all technical expertise to ensure that your products are quality.
“Our commitment is to have a long lasting relationship with you and from this we hope to be expanding into other products as we go along the way,” she said.
Chimanimani Member of Parliament, Dr Samuel Undenge said the project would go a long way to alleviate poverty as well as improving livelihoods in the area.
He applauded Cairns Foods for their commitment to Cashel Valley as he challenged the local farmers to seize the opportunity afforded to them by the revival of the out-growers scheme.
“As the MP of this area I am obviously excited about this venture because it will improve the lives of the people in this constituency.
“It is also a challenge to farmers from Cairns this is where our livelihood and money comes from. They have started start with beans and maybe they will then come back with other products because their brands are a long range,” he said.
Phot credit : Newsday
TSITSI MAPUVIRE / March 26, 2016
We are not co operatives we have irrigation and also interested in growing your products do you also consider large scale farmers. We are based in Mashonaland West near Mazvikadei Dam . We are looking forward to hear from you.
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