https://ir.zou.ac.zw/files/original/c2afe98a81f4fdeacca5b9170ea1eb2c.pdf a77869cee0c0764133068181fb1c2746 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Staff Publications Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource THE ECONOMICS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKETING BY SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN MUREHWA AND MUTOKO DISTRICTS IN ZIMBABWE Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource TAVONGA NJAYA Description An account of the resource The study assessed the nature of marketing chain of fruits and vegetables in Murehwa and Mutoko Districts in Mashonaland East Province in Zimbabwe. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques were used. Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, direct observations and document reviews. A structured household questionnaire was used as the basic tool to collect socio-economic and production data pertaining to fruit and vegetable smallholder producers. The study revealed that poor infrastructure for storage, processing and marketing of fruits and vegetables contributed to losses to the farmers. Smallholder farmers generally focused on production activities and showed relatively little interest in postharvest and marketing activities. The major markets included traditional wet markets such as Mbare and Machipisa Vegetable Markets in Harare and spot selling. The presence of informal middlemen at Mbare and Machipisa Vegetable Markets had led to considerable reduction of the farmers’ profit margins. The study recommended strong partnerships through commodity clusters among farmers in order to be able to supply organised markets such as food processors, institutions (hospitals, tertiary colleges and boarding schools), supermarkets and fast food shops with produce of standardised quality, meet volume requirements and assure consistency of supplies and to enhance efficiency in marketing. Buyer-supplier partnerships such as contract farming sponsored by agro-food processors also facilitated fruit and vegetable marketing while providing farmers access to skills, technologies and infrastructure. Further research should focus on value addition of fruits and vegetables produced by smallholder farmers Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014 commodity clusters fruits infrastructure market access smallholder farmers supply chain vegetables