HASS AVOCADOS: A FRUITFUL LEGACY CASE STORY SERIES #3

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1 HASS AVOCADOS: A FRUITFUL LEGACY CASE STORY SERIES #3

2 Hass avocados: a fruitful legacy This project in Zambia, supported by Trademark Southern Africa, is helping small-scale farmers to grow export quality Hass avocados, helping them provide for their futures and enjoy a better quality of life. When we started, they were just this high, says Mr. Joseph Shikishi (64), bending down to the ground to illustrate how small his avocado trees were when he planted them 3 years ago. From under 2 feet, his 50 initial trees have grown to about 8 feet in height and he has planted another 20 since then. These trees represent his hope for the future. A retired printer, Mr. Shikishi took up farming in 2005 as a second career. There is no state pension in Zambia for people like Mr. Shikishi and it is common to find small farms like his being run by people well into their twilight years, out of necessity as much as choice. He calls his farm Ichula, meaning evergreen. It s important for me to have something in the ground that will keep producing for me when I am 70 or 80 years old and cannot work the land anymore. They told me that within 3 to 4 years the trees will fruit and they will keep fruiting for 20 years, he explains. Once the trees start fruiting, the plan is to export fruit that meets the required standards from the small-scale growers to the UK, at a fair market price. Healthy young Hass avocado plants in the nursery in Lusaka I have been married 43 years to Lydia. We planned together for this farm to support us in our old age, he says. His land, granted to him for agricultural use by the local headman, is 100 by 150 metres in size. There are some difficulties but we don t starve like we did in Lusaka, he says pointing to the sweet potatoes growing between his avocado trees, his small plot of maize, scattered mango and guava trees and some shrubs bearing fiercely hot chillis. Success doesn t come easy though, especially in the dry season, when all Mr. Shikishi s crops have to be watered by hand. Avocados need good management, regular watering and mulching. I have a well but during the dry season it is a lot of work for me and my wife, and sometimes we get some piece workers to help. When Mr. Shikishi first heard about the UKaid-supported Trademark Southern Africa (TMSA) project to assist selected small-scale growers to plant avocado trees anvd provide extension advice to ensure the trees reach maturity, he was immediately interested in learning more. 2 TMSA Case Story - Hass Avocados: A Fruitful Legacy

3 The Hass avocado project is being implemented through the Zambian Small Scale Growers (ZSSG), a producer marketing organisation set up by Mack Multiples, a leading fresh produce importer in the UK, that links Zambian small-scale growers to high value UK markets. ZSSG was initially established in August 2008 with funding from the ComMark Trust, an older UKaid-supported project successfully absorbed by TMSA. I wake up very early and knock off a bit late, but I like farming, Mr. Shikishi says, adding that he s only had on the job training and would have been lost without some help from his friends. These friends include Kenneth Chali and Joseph Mkangala, extension worker affiliated to the project through the ZSSG. The extension workers help because we can report that we have a problem and they advise us. We see them nearly every week, sometimes twice a week. They have also replaced 1 or 2 plants that didn t do well, explains Mr. Shikishi. Along with the advice that specifically relates to their avocado trees, Kenneth and Joseph also advise us on other projects and encourage us to diversify and grow some other vegetables, adds Mr. Shikishi. These young men know what they are talking about. We get good advice from them and that makes our farming easier. It s important for me to have something in the ground that will keep producing for me when I am 70 or 80 years old and cannot work the land anymore. Joseph Shikishi looking at his Hass avocado trees, which are nearing maturity TMSA Case Story - Hass Avocados: A Fruitful Legacy 3

4 Kenneth and Mr. Shikishi More people realise the project potential than they did three years ago. Its success means that it is now speaking on its own. Extending a helping hand The role of the extension works is exactly that; to make farming avocadoes easier by providing all the necessary support to ensure the project s success. We find the farmers, inform them about the project, and help with land preparation, size of holes, clearing of orchards. It doesn t matter the season, we are out all of the time, confirms Kenneth. Mr. Shikishi is a good farmer. You can see from the colour of their leaves that his avocado trees are healthy, he adds. He hasn t performed badly at all we d give him 99.9%, agrees Joseph. Mr. Shikishi just smiles. I am looking forward to harvesting the first avocados. Some people laughed when they saw me planting these trees but I am a patient man, says Mr. Shikishi. He would like one of his 6 grown-up children to take over the farm one day. I feel good knowing that I am leaving something for them that will keep producing for 20 years. That is part of the attraction of this project, he says. This means there is now cluster of several hundred trees in this rural area about 30 kilometres from the outskirts of Lusaka. The maximum yield potential at around 7/8 years is 40 kilograms of avocados per tree and the consolidation of volumes is important for the ultimate aim of the project, which is to access the lucrative Hass avocado export market. More people realise the project potential than they did three years ago. Its success means that it is now speaking on its own, confirms Kenneth. While initially, they had to actively find farmers to take part in the avocado project, increasingly, they also find us. They are confident their efforts to help farmers will pay off. When we see people working like this, taking our advice, you can see the effort they have put in and what is achieved. That is very motivating for us, says Kenneth. Moving around the countryside on motorbikes, Kenneth and Joseph currently support the efforts of about 80 farmers like Mr. Shikishi. They believe that the increasing popularity of their programme is partly due to the dedication of farmers who are showing tangible results. 4 TMSA Case Story - Hass Avocados: A Fruitful Legacy

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7 Joseph Shikishi and his extended family

8 Reaching more farmers Mrs. Ching embu is another of the project s star farmers. She and her husband have been farming for 7 years. Like Mr. Shikishi, farming is their retirement plan and, something to leave for their 3 children. While her husband had agricultural experience, Mrs. Ching embu was a teacher and finds disobedient crops as much of a challenge as disobedient children. Farming is tough, but we do it to survive, when you retire you must do something, says Mrs. Ching embu. 3 years ago I met a woman who told me about this avocado project. I got interested. It s a long term project, which is partly why it appealed to me. There is something at the end of it that will be worth the effort, she explains. While her and her husband s farm is slightly larger than many in the area, it still only consists of about 5 hectares of maize and soya beans and now, avocado trees. Like Mr. Shikishi, she and her husband, both in their sixties, do most of the work themselves, with occasional piece workers. Where can you get your food out here if you don t farm? she asks. When she first told her husband about the project he was sceptical; he thought these people will come, cheat us, or promise us things, then just leave, she explains. That didn t happen though, and the constant visits by Kenneth and Joseph, coupled with his wife s growing orchard, convinced Mr. Ching embu to get on board. She now has 120 avocado trees and my husband, who saw what she was doing, now has 100 of his own. My experience of working with Kenneth and Joseph is that they re serious young men and this is a serious project. I can see it in what they tell me and the results I have when I follow their advice, says Mrs. Ching embu. She believes that a project like this is very important for small farmers in Zambia where, a few people make a decent living but not all of them. As well as their weekly farm visits, Kenneth and Joseph give field days for the local community, sometimes hosted at Mrs. Ching embu s farm. Part of the value of the extension works is that it makes information accessible by taking it to the community in an area under-serviced by public transport, which anyway is something not many people can afford, says Joseph. The areas they work in are also characterised by bad roads and poor infrastructure; none of the farmers have access to Zambia s power grid and they all rely on wells for water. My expectations are high, my trees are doing very well. They are about 3 years old so next year we will have fruit from them. I have a feeling that we re building something for our children and our grandchildren, says Mrs. Ching embu. There is something at the end of it that will be worth the effort. Mr. and Mrs. Ching embu on their farm 8 TMSA Case Story - Hass Avocados: A Fruitful Legacy

9 next steps Growing the avocado trees is just the first part of the project though. When the trees start to fruit in the next year, there will be new work for Joseph and Kenneth to do to ensure that the avocadoes meet stringent export standards and start earning the farmers some money. At the Second Tripartite Summit, held on 12 June 2011, it was agreed that the Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) negotiations would 1) focus on trade in goods and 2) will be negotiated within a period of three years. Trade in agricultural products requires that they should comply with import rules and regulations, including the sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) standards of the importing country. Some of these standards vary from country to country and can create barriers to trade. In recognition of these varying SPS standards, paragraph 2 of Article 26 (sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures) of the Tripartite FTA Agreement, states that Tripartite Member States shall harmonise their sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures and shall initiate activities to achieve regional certification of products. As well as supporting the integration of the Tripartite, of which Zambia forms a part, into a single market, well-functioning technical infrastructure, underpinned by harmonised standards, TMSA is helping to make sure that small scale farmers like Mr. Shikishi and Mrs. Ching embu can benefit from harmonised standards. Mrs. Ching embu examing her healthy young trees TMSA Case Story - Hass Avocados: A Fruitful Legacy 9

10 Richard Theotis and the Hass avocado tree used to propagate all the seedlings that are distributed to the farmers ABOUT HASS AVOCADOES All the avocado trees supplied to the 80 farmers currently taking part in the project come from a small nursery in the Lusaka area. All commercial, fruit-bearing Hass avocado trees have been grown from grafted seedlings propagated from a single tree which was grown from a seed bought by Rudolph Hass in 1926 from A. R. Rideout of Whittier, California. It has not been commercially grown in Zambia before. The Hass avocado is a medium-sized berry weighing grams. When ripe the skin becomes a dark purplishblack and yields to gentle pressure. Owing to its taste, size, shelf-life, high growing yield and in some areas, year-round harvesting, the Hass cultivar is the most commercially popular avocado worldwide. In the United States it accounts for more than 80% of the avocado crop, 95% of the California crop and is the most widely grown avocado in New Zealand. To date, the nursery in Lusaka has grown and distributed many young trees. 10 TMSA Case Story - Hass Avocados: A Fruitful Legacy

11 ABOUT TRADEMARK SOUTHERN AFRICA Trademark Southern Africa (TMSA) is a UKaid supported project that works with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East Africa Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tripartite to lower the physical, political and economic barriers that isolate national economies. The purpose of the programme is to improve southern Africa s trade performance and competitiveness for the benefit of poor women and men. TMSA s activities address current constraints to trade. By supporting regional collaboration through the enabling environment in the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite area, TMSA is helping African countries to unleash their full potential. The work with Freshmark is just one way that TMSA is helping the private sector in Southern Africa do business in ways that are not only good for profits but also good for development. For more information visit

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