Staff Reporter

Farmers have been urged to embrace production of macadamia nuts, and to take advantage of the growing demand for the produce in major markets around the world in order to earn foreign currency for the country.

Agronomist, Shepherd Mukange said that farmers should take up the production of macadamia nuts as they had the potential to increase foreign currency inflows into the country.

"Macadamia (Macadamia tetraphylla and integrifolia) is considered to be "a golden crop" due to its high demand in local and international markets. It is a popular crop with the capacity to alleviate poverty, promote health, enhance food security, and contribute to Zimbabwe's economic growth.

"Zimbabwe is expected to benefit if macadamia nut farming continues to be encouraged and supported in the country as global demand continues to rise above supply. Zimbabwean farmers started growing Macadamia trees around year 2000 in the Eastern Border Highlands," said Mukange.

Another contact from Zimtrade added that macadamia nuts had a large market in Sweden that required more farmers to join in the production of these precious nuts.  Furthermore, she added that the National Export Strategy identified the horticulture sector as a major priority.

"The National Export Strategy identifies the horticulture sector as one of the priority sectors and macadamia are a low hanging fruit. As ZimTrade, we want to see a 10% plus growth of macadamia exports, translating to US$30 million by 2023 and US$52 million by 2030," said the contact.

Meanwhile, agricultural exhibitions have been carried out at the just ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) where products were advertised to international markets as this was meant to link up local producers with international buyers.