AFRICA
Mushroom passion in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe. Once known as the grain store of Africa, but today straggling behind in the list of producing and exporting nations. However, an am- bitious and enterprising younger generation is seeing opportunities in
agriculture, and many are opting for mushroom growing. By Eva de Vries
Z
imbabwe’s mushroom growing industry flourished in the 1990s, when about a dozen large growers harvested around 300 tonnes of white
mushrooms and 50 tonnes of oyster mushrooms annually, with a large proportion of the button mushrooms destined for export. Land reforms and redistribution signalled disaster for this sector and production levels have only started to recover in the last few years. There are currently around 50 serious, but small-scale, growers
active and a large number of mushroom growing projects in rural regions, largely set up by women. Mushrooms are no longer exported as local production cannot meet the demanded levels. In fact, locally grown mushrooms in the supermarkets are supplemented by imported mushrooms from China and South Africa. The trade organisation for the sector, Mushroom Growers Association of Zimbabwe, established in sunnier times, is no longer active so precise statistic are unavailable.
▲ Rumbi (left) and Kundai (right) Musarurwa in the shed where they grow oyster mushrooms.
20 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
Photo: Cynthia Matonhodze.
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