Zimbabwe farmers seek funds to cash in on China blueberry boom

Under the morning sun, women moved briskly through neat rows of bushes, plucking blueberries for Zimbabwe's export market thrown wide open by new trade deals with China.

Managers of the Forrester Estates farm about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Harare want to more than double their planting area to 50 hectares (124 acres) next year to capitalise on the booming demand.

"The funding, that's the problem," farm manager Albert Chakala told AFP.

The southern African country dispatched its first shipment of blueberries to China in July after a phytosanitary agreement signed a year ago and Beijing's scrapping of tariffs on imports from 53 African countries in May.

"The crop that we have is not enough to satisfy our market," Chakala said.

Each new hectare of blueberries requires an upfront investment of between $50,000 and $55,000, mainly for irrigation, planting material and other infrastructure, he said.

Lack of access to affordable finance is one of the biggest barriers to growth for many of Zimbabwe's farmers, according to the Horticultural Development Council (HDC), which represents growers and exporters.

Yet, the promise of new global markets clashes sharply with Zimbabwe's ongoing monetary realities, where a scarcity of foreign exchange routinely leaves farmers unable to fund the very expansion needed to meet demand.

"We are expanding bit by bit, according to what we are getting back from what we sell," Chakala said.

Zimbabwean blueberries already reach European, British and Middle Eastern markets, but China -- one of the world's largest consumers of the fruit widely promoted for its purported health benefits -- offers a potentially transformative new destination for the farmers who can afford to scale up.

Zimbabwe is Africa's third-largest blueberry producer after Morocco and South Africa, and one of the world's fastest-growing blueberry producers, according to the HDC.

This year, the industry expects to export about 12,000 tonnes from around 850 hectares, up from 9,500 tonnes produced from 650 hectares last year, CEO Linda Nielsen said in a statement in June.

To support growth to meet the potential offered by China's hunger for blueberries, the sector was engaging with the government over more competitive export financing and targeted tax incentives for irrigation, solar and cold-chain investments, she said.

"The lack of adequate financing is a big worry for growers," she said.

Most of Zimbabwe's blueberry producers are established white commercial farmers whose families have farmed for many years, said Clarence Mwale, chairman of the Export Produce Growers Association of Zimbabwe.

"With the opening of new markets like the Chinese market, it gives an opportunity for indigenous farmers to find space to also grow crops like blueberries," he told AFP.

But this would require securing cheaper, long-term capital, he said.

"If we can attract foreign direct investment, foreign facilities, foreign loans, patient money, patient capital, then perhaps we can start talking about better platforms for new farmers to come in," Mwale said.

"As it is, we have access to money locally, but it's very expensive money," he said, referring to high interest rates on bank loans.

Zimbabwe is Africa's leading producer of tobacco and the crop has for decades been its dominant agricultural export, with production reaching 355,000 tonnes in 2025, according to the tobacco board.

China is the biggest taker, as it is with Zimbabwe's large lithium and chromium ore production.

Although blueberry production is still dwarfed by tobacco, the potential of the massive Chinese market could entice a new generation of farmers, said Mwale.

"My commitment is to try and convince more young people to grow more blueberries and move away from growing tobacco," he said.

"I think that it's an opportunity that we can utilise to try and replace 100 years of growing tobacco with something more health-focused."