Zimbabwe: Bean value chains

With more than one-quarter of all children being stunted, malnutrition is regarded as a serious problem in Zimbabwe. Dry beans are an important source of protein in the Zimbabwean diet. However, their production seriously dropped due to the decline in the agricultural sector during the first decade of the 2000s. A consortium of seed companies and research institutes has been set up to respond to the problem. Advance Consulting assists in project development and acquisition of a grant from the Dutch government.

The consortium consists of the partners Klein Karoo Seed Marketing, Applied Plant Research, Agricultural Partnerships Trust, and Seed Services Institute. Its objective is to increase production, sales and consumption of dry beans in Zimbabwe, to reduce poverty and malnutrition of smallholder farmers and improve their food security and farm sustainability. Advance Consulting assisted in developing the consortium's project strategy which focuses on sugar beans - a suitable crop which can be grown multiple times per annum as mixed or intercrop.

The project implements the following activities (building blocks):

• Development and release of high-yielding dry bean varieties via Single Seed Descent (SSD) selection in order to achieve maximum yield potential with pre-conditions regarding stress resistance.
• Introduction of a model for seed multiplication and marketing of dry bean seeds.
• Improvement of smallholders’ agricultural practices and knowledge and provision of market access to smallholder farmers, which enables them to increase dry bean production at a profit.
• A farmer group of 5,000 farmers will be established and trained on good agricultural practices, financing, market linkages, and nutritional and agricultural benefits of dry beans.

For more information on this project or similar projects contact Irma Verhoosel.