Zimbabwe blueberry farmers chase booming demand, face funding woes

STORY: Zimbabwe's farmers are betting on blueberries.

The country is one of the fastest growing producers globally, with demand for the fruit booming.

But farmers are running into a problem finding financing for their operations.

Self-funded growers like Willard Zireva cite a lack of finance and minimal government support as barriers to success:

"If funding is available it is a massive growth opportunity."

Zireva cultivates about 30 acres (12 hectares) of blueberry crops at his farm.

After a local bank denied him funding, he relied on personal savings to plant his first crop.

Now he says the demand far exceeds his ability to supply.

Zimbabwe's horticultural exports, driven in part by blueberries, exceed $100 million annually.

Despite the sector's recent growth, banks remain wary of financing agriculture due to uncertain land tenure, making it hard for Black farmers like Zireva to expand.

The state has in the past arbitrarily acquired farmland.

Former President Robert Mugabe disrupted the sector's exports when he began the seizure of white-owned farms to resettle landless Black citizens.

Blueberry farming in Zimbabwe is now dominated by the few remaining local white farmers.

And many of them are looking for foreign investment to scale up operations.

The finance and agriculture ministries, as well as the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.