Horticulture production and marketing firm, Synthesis Agriculture, has announced securing a market for bananas worth K280 billion.
Synthesis Agriculture, Managing Director, Dickson Kilowe outlined that bananas are a valuable commodity. “If they (farmers) sell one bunch at K1,000 it means they will make K10,000 per plant translating in K25 million in a year.
The development follows after last October, when Kilowe implemented a program to train farmers in reviving the lost glory in high-value banana and paprika production. A year later, the initiative has met an opportunity of banana markets in South Africa, Kenya, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Banana production was a forgotten trade in the country, following the banana bunchy top virus outbreak which resulted in plants being uprooted and burned. Synthesis Agriculture has a goal to revive the trade, amidst the call to diversify agricultural input, following poor tobacco and maize sales.