Africa-Press – Eswatini. About 492 tonnes of produce were purchased by Shoprite from the National Agricultural Marketing Board (NAMBoard) through their Freshmark Company in the 2023/24 financial year.
This is in comparison to the 430 tonnes that were purchased in the 2022/23 financial year. The value of the produce that was sold in the 2023/24 financial year amounted to E4.5 million compared to E3.5 million in the previous year. This represents a 28 per cent growth in value, demonstrating the competitive prices that are paid by Freshmark. The top eight most traded commodities were butternut, tomato, beetroot, green pepper, baby marrow, cabbage, green beans and onion. According to NAMBoard Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bhekizwe Maziya, Shoprite trade accounts for 30 per cent of NAMBoard’s total local sales. The CEO was speaking during a media briefing that aimed to explain the relationship between NAMBoard and Shoprite at Encabeni Market.
Relationship
The relationship between the two entities facilitates opportunities for local farmers through Freshmark, and export markets in the SADC Region. Maziya further went on to encouragfe local farmers to sell directly to big retailers who operate like Shoprite. “About 16 metric tonnes was sold directly to Shoprite by local farmers in the previous financial year,” said the CEO. When speaking about the priority products that farmers need to focus on, Maziya mentioned that only the market determines priority products and what is needed at that time. He encouraged farmers to always liaise with NAMBoard to check what is needed at that particular time. “This will also help them plan for the future and what the market wants to consume at that particular time,” said the CEO.
Also in attendance was the General Manager (GM) for Shoprite Eswatini, Pamela Nkomonde who stated that their wish as a retailer was for their relationship to grow every year.
“Our wish is to continue working with local farmers to improve their lives. We are also looking at the effects of climate change and noticing how it affects farmers,” she said. The GM went on to mention that as a company they were working on a strategy on how to empower farmers to tackle the effects of climate change. She mentioned that as soon as the strategy has been formulated, farmers will be briefed on it.
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