NDZEVANE: Almost at the bottom of the Lubombo basin, Ndzevane used to be the closest one could get to hell on earth. Scorching hot and dry as bone, it left very little hope of survival for man and beast.
Yet a sea of green leafy trees that is spreading for kilometres as far as the eye can see belies the notion that nature cannot be tamed. Exactly one year after water arrived by canal from the Lubovane Dam almost 100 kilometres north west, the Mngometulu people who had nothing to smile about, are laughing all the way to the bank.
The Ndzevane banana project stands out as the flagship of an amazing social and economic transformation of an arid region. The process of developing a 500 hectare banana plantation is moving forward rapidly, with 327 hectares that has been cultivated already producing over 13,000 tonnes of banana a year – almost double the 693 tonnes currently imported from Mozambique and South Africa to supply the domestic market, at a cost of E1.8 million.
Banana represents a major shift from sugarcane which has been the main focus of the Eswatini Water Agricultural Development Enterprise (EWADE), the government company assigned the task of bringing income streams to drought prone rural communities. “We’re transitioning from the sugarcane-heavy model of commercial agriculture that you can see at LUSIP I (Siphofaneni) and Komati Downstream Development Project (KDDP) to embrace crop diversification,” explains EWADE’s Director of Corporate Communications Nokwazi Hlophe.
“By focusing on bananas, we’re empowering local farmers, enhancing crop quality, reducing waste, and increasing the value of their produce at both domestic and international markets,” Hlophe adds.
Banana is certainly a strategic food ready to eat option for an ever ready hungry. It is also highly profitable, in some instances, even beating sugarcane cultivation.
The banana project, as all EWADE projects, is a partnership with local communities who consolidate their communal lands to form sustainable-sized farms that are incorporated into farmer companies. Under EWADE guidance, they do the work, provide the management and enjoy the income and profits. Beneficiaries of the banana initiative are communities from the Mngometulu, Ngcamphalala and Matsenjwa communities.
Zwelethu Dlamini agrees about the positive profits of the banana initiative. “The export market is particularly lucrative, depending on season of export. During off-season banana prices per carton are tripled. So we try and align our harvest to ensure that we have more banana during the off-season period.” He is the LUSIP 2 (Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Projects) Agriculture Development Manager.
“Banana unlike sugarcane has multiple harvests per year per mat (stand). That way, farmers receive a steady uninterrupted monthly income and do not need to wait for a whole year for their money.”
The Ndzevane project is already thriving: “Most of our farms have started to harvest – delivering yields averaging 40 tons per/Ha.” About 30% of this is currently exported, adding to 40,367 metric tonnes produced by other farmers around the country. This export, according to the National Agriculture Marketing Board, generates around E173.4 million revenue per year. The balance of 70% Ndzevane banana is sold in the domestic market.
“With more stands coming through we will be able to increase our capacity to export. We anticipate a switch where 70% of the product will be exported to international markets that we have engaged and secured, while 30% will be sold in the country.
Water, the primary reason EWADE was created. It is a scarce and extremely high demand item, especially in the rain-shadow of the Lubombo Range where adequate rains are rare. Water must therefore be sparingly used so it satisfies many needs. Fortunately, irrigating banana requires far less water than sugarcane which requires 13400M³ of water per Ha Per year, compared to 8000M³ of water per Ha Per year for banana.
A delicate crop
Banana is a very delicate crop that requires careful handling. For market appeal, banana skins must be protected from damage marks throughout the cultivation, harvesting, packaging and marketing process. For this reason, all banana bunches are covered with special plastic protection to avoid contamination by insects, destruction by birds and bruising during harvesting and transfer.
In anticipation of 500 hectares of harvest coming on stream and the need to meet strict export quality standards, EWADE has built a special-purpose packing house at Ndzevane where the banana harvest is delivered and carefully prepared. As a perishable product, it is key that it is carefully prepared to ensure that it reaches markets while still fresh, and to hold adequate shelf-life at the point of sale. This requires it be sorted to select the best quality, graded according to size, washed, brushed, waxed, and if necessary and subjected specific chemical treatment before it is packed in branded perforated boxes and stored ready for transportation.
The pack house with capacity to handle 27 tonnes of banana, was built at a cost of E4.09 million by ICON Construction. It contains an E4.5 million-worth banana curing equipment installed by Heathway Investments and commissioned in September. It also houses two cold-rooms, each measuring 7m x 3m x 2.4m, capable of storing up to 30 pallets. “Each pallet holds 50 crates, each containing 18kg of banana, ensuring farmers can meet market demand while maintaining product quality. It also boasts advanced sorting and packaging areas equipped with four banana washing bins as well as rotating tables for sorting and packaging. Sensitivity to water-saving includes a facility that recycles and reuses water used in the banana washing process.
The success of the banana project which is one of several crops including maize in summer and beans in winter epitomizes the long term benefits of an ambitious gamble taken by the Government of Eswatini 25 years ago, when it committed billions of emalangeni to capture water upstream and convey it to the bone-dry Lubombo low veld.
That water today resonates with EWADE, the Government company created in 1999, betting on the hope that irrigation would transform unproductive land and bring economic prosperity to the rural poor.
The first phase of the Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project (LUSIP 1) received water captured from the Mhlathuzane River into the Lubovane Dam, then by canal to the dry Lubombo is. This first phase terminated at Siphofaneni and augmented irrigation capacity for the multinational company, Ubombo Sugar 30 km further East. LUSIP 1 success bolstered investor confidence in the potential benefits of extending the canal all the way to Nsoko.
LUSIP II Project Manager Gcina Ginindza views the banana pack house as a breakthrough for local farmers. “This facility is a game-changer. It symbolizes EWADE’s commitment to sustainable agricultural practices and our mission to drive Eswatini’s agricultural sector towards greater economic resilience and food security,” he said.
He says EWADE’s long-term vision, is to reshape Eswatini’s agricultural landscape. “This is just the beginning. By modernizing infrastructure and practices, we are laying the groundwork for long-term growth, ensuring that farmers benefit from increased productivity and competitiveness,” he added.
jm/today/21.11/2024
