Mutoko Women Turn Peas Into Gateway To EU Export Markets
Just after sunrise in Mutoko, women in gumboots move quickly along neat pea rows, fingers working through the cool vines to pick only the straightest, cleanest pods. To them, these are no longer just vegetables for the local market. Packed correctly, they are Ireland, France, the United Kingdom – and a new chapter for rural women’s incomes.
A pilot project in Mutoko is linking six women-dominated farmer groups to high-value export markets for sugar snap and mangetout peas, in a partnership that brings together smallholders, Government, development agencies, technical experts and private exporters.
The initiative sits under the three-year Women Economic Strengthening for Resilience Project (WESRP), launched in 2024 and co-funded by Christian Aid and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It aims to equip women and young farmers with the production, business and market-readiness skills needed to participate in formal and export value chains – and to earn more from every kilogramme they produce.
How Mutoko Pea Farmers Reached The EU Radar
The Mutoko pilot is building a practical model for integrating rural farmers into international markets, at a time when Zimbabwe is pushing export diversification under the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 vision.
At a joint progress review held this week at Christian Aid’s offices in Harare, partners took stock of what it will take to turn a promising pilot into a commercially viable export model that can be scaled up across districts such as Nyanga, Mazowe or Chimanimani.
The review drew together Deputy Ambassador for Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi Ilyaas Sherally, Netherlands Embassy Policy Officer for Economic Affairs and WESRP project co-ordinator Emma Musoko, Netherlands Private Sector Engagement Coach Matthijs Brouwer, PUM Senior Value Chain and Export Market Expert Kees van ’t Klooster, Nyahunure Community Organisation (NCO), Kuminda, ZimTrade, the University of Zimbabwe and other partners.
Field visits to the six women’s groups followed, allowing experts to observe planting patterns, irrigation, pest management, harvesting practices and basic grading – the quiet technical details that make or break an export consignment.
“This project has helped empower women by boosting their confidence to participate in high-value chains, which is the way to go to enhance their contribution to local economic development in Zimbabwe,” said Ms Musoko, who co-ordinates WESRP.
What Makes Sugar Snap And Mangetout Peas High-Value?
Sugar snap and mangetout peas are niche vegetables, favoured in European supermarkets and restaurants for their sweetness, tenderness and bright green colour. They sell at a premium – but only when they arrive fresh, uniform and fully traceable.
FFA Explainer:
Export horticulture is agriculture grown specifically for foreign markets with strict quality and safety requirements. Crops like peas, baby corn, fine beans and chillies can earn higher prices than staples, but only if farmers follow rigorous production, harvesting, cold-chain and documentation standards.
For Mutoko’s women, stepping into this space means learning a new discipline: planting to a schedule, working with export-grade inputs, logging every pesticide application, and harvesting at dawn so that peas are in a cold truck before the sun hardens them.
How The Export Partnership Works
Under the current arrangement, Nyahunure Community Organisation represents the farmers in an off-take agreement with Kuminda, an export aggregator that links smallholders to buyers beyond Zimbabwe’s borders.
Kuminda provides certification support, quality-control systems and logistics, coordinating everything from on-farm training to cold storage and freight to European ports. The company has opened potential markets in Ireland, France and the United Kingdom, subject to farmers meeting agreed volumes, quality and compliance requirements, and subject to confirmed orders from buyers.
“Our focus is to support farmers to meet food-safety, traceability, pesticide-residue, grading and cold-chain requirements so that every consignment can satisfy the buyer and protect Zimbabwe’s reputation,” said Kuminda Chief Executive Officer Mr Clarence Mwale.
From Mutoko’s side, NCO acts as the glue between households and the export channel, ensuring that all members of the six producer groups follow the same planting calendar, quality rules and record-keeping formats.
NCO’s Mr Francis Pawandiwa said farmers now understood that quality began in the field and did not end until the peas reached the buyer.
“Farmers used to think quality was just about sorting at the shed. Now they appreciate that it starts with the seed, the soil and the spray, and continues right through harvesting, grading, packaging and transportation,” he said in Harare.
Why Partnerships Matter For Smallholder Export Farming
One message rang clear during the review meeting: no smallholder can face the demands of the European Union market alone.
“When communities, development partners and the private sector work together around a shared vision, smallholder farmers can unlock new opportunities, build resilient enterprises and compete confidently in export markets,” said Deputy Ambassador Sherally.
The export peas pilot draws in an unusually wide set of partners, each with a defined role.
- Christian Aid co-funds the project and works to ensure farmers are treated as business partners, not just raw material suppliers.
- The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands brings diplomatic support and technical linkages to Dutch expertise.
- PUM, a Dutch volunteer-driven advisory organisation, provides senior experts such as Mr van ’t Klooster to guide agronomy, value chain design and export standards.
- ZimTrade, through its trade development and export promotion mandate, helps farmers understand markets and prices.
- AGRITEX offers local extension support on crop management.
- The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development supports group formation, savings, registration and market preparation.
- The Zimbabwe Agricultural Development Trust strengthens financial literacy and business planning.
- Private input suppliers provide export-grade seed, fertiliser and crop-protection products, along with agronomic guidance.
“For Christian Aid, a win-win partnership starts by placing smallholder farmers at the centre — not only as suppliers, but as informed business partners with a voice in production decisions, quality systems and the value created by the market,” said Christian Aid Programmes and Partnerships Lead for Southern Africa, Dr Aulline Chapisa.
What ZimTrade Brings To The Pea Fields
Behind every export crop is a basic question: who will buy it, at what price, and under what conditions? ZimTrade is trying to make sure Mutoko farmers can answer that question before they plant the first seed.
“As part of our ZimTrade mandate, we facilitated numerous trainings targeting peas producer groups on market intelligence to ensure they plant for the market, meet export standards, and sell with confidence. Information is key; it turns farming into trade,” said ZimTrade Director of Operations (Trade Development and Export Promotion), Mr Similo Nkala.
ZimTrade has been a vocal advocate for smallholder horticulture exports, seeing them as a way to diversify beyond traditional commodities. Its officers have worked with farmers on topics ranging from export documentation to simple costings – how to calculate whether an off-take price is truly profitable once inputs, labour, transport and packaging are factored in.
The proposed off-take price for the Mutoko peas is between US$1.50 and US$2 per kilogramme, inclusive of delivery costs, with payment expected after buyer settlement. For a well-managed, irrigated half-hectare plot, that can translate into meaningful income during the off-season, especially when combined with savings groups and reinvestment into irrigation or storage.
Technical Support: From Agronomy To Cold Chain
PUM Zimbabwe representative Mr Paul Zakariya said specialist expertise would strengthen agronomy, quality systems, post-harvest handling and commercial planning across the pilot.
PUM Senior Value Chain and Export Market Expert Kees van ’t Klooster is preparing technical recommendations following fieldwork and consultations with farmers, extension officers and aggregators.
The review identified several priority areas before the model can be scaled confidently:
- Strengthening producer-group performance and governance.
- Improving access to appropriate finance for inputs, irrigation and packaging.
- Upgrading infrastructure such as shade nets, pack sheds and basic cold storage.
- Deepening farmers’ understanding of compliance requirements, including pesticide records and traceability.
- Sharpening technical skills in pest management, harvesting and post-harvest handling.
- Coordinating production cycles to match export market windows.
“That evidence will allow us to upscale responsibly while keeping women and smallholder farmers at the centre of the model,” said Christian Aid Senior Programmes Officer Mr Pepukai Muchazondida Svinurai, referring to the forthcoming technical report.
How This Fits Into Zimbabwe’s Trade And Development Agenda
The Mutoko peas pilot is more than a local project. It speaks directly to Zimbabwe’s efforts to broaden its export base and deepen rural development under NDS2 (2026–2030), which emphasises export diversification, value addition, inclusive growth and integration into global value chains.
Projects like WESRP can also support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). By giving women and youth in districts such as Mutoko, Bindura or Gokwe a direct route into high-value horticulture, they create alternatives to low-paid piecework or migration.
Deputy Ambassador Sherally and other partners at the review noted that when women increase their incomes from farming, households invest more in children’s nutrition, schooling and health – a pattern documented across many rural economies.
For policymakers in Harare, the peas also raise practical questions:
- How can Government expand cold-chain infrastructure beyond major cities so that more farmers can attempt exports?
- What kind of guarantee schemes or export-oriented credit lines would enable rural producer groups to buy inputs without falling into debt traps?
- Which districts should be prioritised for horticulture clusters, based on climate, water availability and existing farmer organisation?
Answers to these questions will determine whether Mutoko’s success stays a pilot story or becomes a national template.
Lessons For Smallholders Across Zimbabwe
Although the current pilot is anchored in Mutoko, its lessons already speak to farmers from Masvingo to Hurungwe who dream of going beyond the local market.
Three themes stand out:
- Organise first, then negotiate. The Mutoko women are working as groups, not as isolated individuals. That gives them volume, bargaining power and the ability to share costs for transport and inputs.
- Know your buyer before you plant. Training on market intelligence and contracts has helped them avoid the classic trap of producing a beautiful crop with no ready market.
- Treat farming as a business. Financial literacy, savings groups and simple record-keeping help farmers see which crops and practices actually generate profit.
These principles echo experiences from other horticulture pockets, such as tomato growers in Mutasa or butternut producers in Chegutu, where partnerships with buyers and development agencies have helped farmers reach South African or regional supermarket shelves.
For women and youth, the Mutoko pilot also has a symbolic weight. It shows that export horticulture is not only for large estates with refrigerated trucks and in-house agronomists. With the right support, a communal farmer with a quarter-hectare under drip irrigation can also meet the standards of a European supermarket.
From Pilot Plot To Resilient Rural Enterprise
The WESRP partners are clear that this is only the beginning. The pilot phase is designed to test the model, document what works and what fails, and then refine the approach before scaling to other communities.
The review team’s field notes will feed into Mr van ’t Klooster’s technical recommendations, which in turn will guide Christian Aid, the Embassy of the Netherlands, ZimTrade, NCO and Kuminda as they consider expansion.
For the women in Mutoko, though, the impact is already tangible. A crop once seen as too delicate, too demanding and too far from their usual markets is now being weighed, packed and sent off in cold trucks, backed by contracts and trainings rather than guesswork.
On a recent harvesting morning, a group leader watched as neatly stacked crates of peas disappeared onto a truck bound for Harare and, eventually, beyond Zimbabwe’s borders. Her concern was not whether they would sell, but whether the next planting cycle would be even better organised.
That shift – from survival to planning, from selling at the roadside to eyeing shelves in Paris or Dublin – may be the most important export of all.
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