Mozambique Buyer-Seller Mission Spurs Private Sector Negotiations

In line with the SATH demand led market solution approach, SATH has been working with Tiger Brands, a leading South African food processor, to investigate new regional supplies of groundnuts and canning beans.  The Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) also approached SATH to facilitate the supply of new soybean varieties in the region. In response, SATH partnered with the USAID-funded AgriFuturo project and Michigan State University Collaborative Bean Research Support Program and led a buyer-seller mission to the northern Mozambican provinces of Nampula and Zambezia. Tiger Brands was joined in the mission by SeedCo Zimbabwe, a regional seed producer specialising in hybrid maize and soybean varieties, and SA Groundnut Marketing, a groundnut trader and seed supplier.

The buyer-seller mission met with producers, traders and farmer associations, including Correidor Agro, Hoyo Hoyo and Rei do Agro and IKURU, the most successful farmer-owned business in Mozambique. Founded in 2001, IKURU has increased their commodities of maize, soybean, groundnut and sesame from 300 metric tons per year in 2004 to 2,250 mt per year in 2009, representing annual growth of around 50% per year. IKURU currently has 22,000 farmer shareholders grouped into 29 farmers associations, with 40% of the farmer shareholders comprising women farmers.

As a result of the SATH-led mission, SeedCo Zimbabwe is negotiating a seed distribution and multiplication program with IKURU and others, and are responding to orders in excess of 105 mt of soybean and maize seed. SA Groundnut is negotiating various contracts for growing, supply and processing arrangements in the region. With the assistance of AgriFuturo, the company has also identified investment and supply opportunities along the Beira Corridor and have made several follow up visits to the area. Tiger Brands has also been linked with several potential suppliers (both trade and contract production) and is currently in negotiations with these entities. SATH will follow up with each company to assist in further interventions to facilitate trade, investment as well as to support the mitigation of aflatoxin issues in the region.

SATH also plans to replicate this successful buyer-seller mission approach in Malawi and Zambia.