Post by cjm on Dec 28, 2021 9:59:17 GMT
Are national fresh produce markets coming to an end?
My general impression is that these markets are a dumping ground for lower standard fruit and vegetables.
It is also very difficult to keep tabs on the prices the produce is sold for.
My general impression is that these markets are a dumping ground for lower standard fruit and vegetables.
It is also very difficult to keep tabs on the prices the produce is sold for.
Stanford Manthata, deputy director of marketing infrastructure and agro-logistics at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, notes that the markets play an especially important role in sustaining the informal economy.
“While large commercial producers would be able to work around the fresh produce market system should it fail them, emerging growers would be at a huge disadvantage. Similarly, the hawkers that currently procure their fresh produce from the market would have to find it elsewhere.”
Clearly, with so much hanging in the balance, the future of the markets needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
“While large commercial producers would be able to work around the fresh produce market system should it fail them, emerging growers would be at a huge disadvantage. Similarly, the hawkers that currently procure their fresh produce from the market would have to find it elsewhere.”
Clearly, with so much hanging in the balance, the future of the markets needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
“If one converts the commission that growers are paying for the space they are occupying, they could just as well have rented the most expensive space in a Sandton high-rise building.”