Swazi Observer

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MUSHROOM INDUSTRY TO TURN INTO COMMERCIAL VALUE CHAIN

By Qondile Ntiwane | 2021-04-14

The ministry of agriculture has envisioned having the mushroom industry in the Kingdom turnaround from small scale production into a commercial value chain. According to the ministry, this can be achieved by having some anchor producers who can support small scale producers (out growers), like it is the case in the sugar industry.

Making his remarks during the Mushroom Eswatini Country Case overview at the ministry’s boardroom last week, Minister of Agriculture Jabulani Mabuza mentioned that, to date, the unit was working with 46 active small holder farmers scattered all over the four regions of the country.

He stated that there were more than 150 other farmers interested to join the industry but were unable due to challenges with production resources.

“The active farmers are able to produce only 12 per cent of what is consumed in the Kingdom,” he said.

The minister highlighted that the main focus at initiation stage of the mushroom industry was to produce Oyster mushrooms because of their ease of production and short term to harvest. He added that the ministry intended to grow the industry to other types of mushrooms and produce enough for local requirements and even for exports.

“To achieve the above, the mushroom industry needs to shift from old traditional systems of production to high tech machinery. This will help the industry by reducing the hours of labour while increasing productivity,” he said.

He further welcomed Professor Charles Chen and his team to the Kingdom of Eswatini and especially to the ministry of agriculture and stated that their visit was very important as it would enable discussions of issues that may end up benefitting the rural poor in the Kingdom.

“I wish to request you director to work with my teams and support the mushroom industry and unlock all its potentials,” he said.

The mushroom programme in the Kingdom of Eswatini was established in 1998 as a project sponsored by UNDP, Tibiyo TakaNgwane and the Eswatini government. The project was initiated by Her Majesty the Indlovukazi, after seeing the plight of the poor Eswatini women and the girl child.

A special Unit was establish which over the years has evolved to focus on empowering every interested Liswati with the technical expertise of mushroom production.

This has been achieved by roping in extension workers at RDA’s levels, who need to be trained time and again on mushroom production.

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