Value Addition in Zimbabwe's Agro-Ecological Region 2 : Nature of Farmers ‘Activities, Preparedness and Their Constraints

Zimbabwean farmers and the Government are frantically exploring strategies to ensure sustainability and viability of farming activities. This research was an exploratory study of value addition in Zimbabwe's agro-ecological region 2.A descriptive survey of farmers in region 2 was done. Data was collected from 390 farmers using a questionnaire that had 13 open and closed questions. Descriptive statistics were presented in graphs and tables. The most prevalent value addition activity was bagging of mainly maize and ground nuts. Other activities were bottling of peanut butter after processing, chilling of milk, drying of excess vegetables, curing of tobacco and grinding of maize all done on a small scale. Most value adding activities are done on an ad-hoc basis and there was no proper planning. Major constraints faced by farmers were lack of capital and technical knowhow. It was recommended that farmers should be provided with training to facilitate their evolution from production and sales orientation to marketing orientation. The pooling of resources and risks through co-operative value addition initiatives need to be explored, inter alia