Opportunities for Commercialization and Enterprise Development of Indigenous Fruits in Southern Africa - Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics: Domestication, Utilization and Commercialization - page 256

some collectors did not collect throughout the season for several reasons: (i) lack
of labour capacity to collect and transport fruits to the market places due to long
distances and the heavy weight of the fruit loads; (ii) constraints on the type of
transportation used, which is often limited to bicycles; (iii) involvement in other
livelihood and income-generation activities, especially selling other merchandise
and engaging in agricultural activities; and (iv) trading in U. kirkiana fruits was
done as a part-time business mostly during the peak time of fruit supply.
14.2.2 Postharvest handling and transport
The system for postharvest handling of indigenous fruits is poorly developed, and
this has inadvertently affected the commercial value of the fruits and the potential
income generation to smallholder farmers. After collection of fruit, producers walk
with the fruit on their heads or in two-wheeled carts to their homes, local markets
or roadside collection points (Ramadhani, 2002). In Zambia only 14% of traders
interviewed indicated that they incurred or paid transport costs. The majority
carry the fruit to the markets, while the second most popular means of transport
was by bicycle (Karaan et al ., 2005). Very few of the fruit collectors protect the
fruit from the sun while waiting for transport. The fruits that are being marketed
in urban centres went through a long handling chain before reaching the final
consumer (Kadzere et al ., 2002). As a result, fruit collectors experience a lot of
fruit losses from mechanical damage arising from cracking, compression and
bruising during harvesting and transport, insect and pest damage, and
overripening (Combrink, 1996; Saka et al ., 2002).
One of the biggest problems with transport in Malawi is its unreliability
(Kaaria, 1998). Transport is infrequent and traders lose a lot of fruit while
waiting for it. Postharvest decay can be a serious problem in many fruits in
storage. Limiting mechanical injury should always be a primary consideration.
It is important to try to minimize the load of organisms present on the fruit,
using clean water for washing, and even using fungicides. These should be
applied carefully to eliminate residues on consumption. The use of fungicides is
usually regulated by legislation for specific products.
14.2.3 Supply chains
The supply chain normally starts with farmers or local community members who
collect fruits for home consumption and for trading. They sell fruits at the roadside
to other community members or to traders who transport the fruits to urban
markets. These traders either function as wholesalers and sell to retailers, or sell the
fruits themselves as retailers. Farmers sometimes sell their fruits directly to the
public at markets, effectively eliminating all middlemen. In doing this, farmers can
negotiate a better price, up to US$0.03 more per kilogram (Kaaria, 1998). The
supply chains are fairly short, with the longest chain consisting of collectors,
wholesalers, retailers and consumers. Figure 14.1 gives a summary of the possible
supply chain combinations for indigenous fruit in a typical southern African country.