ADDED VALUE

When exporters buy vegetables for sale in Europe, whether from small producers or from commercial growers, much of the value of the final product is often added in the packhouse where grading, cleaning, preparation and packing for sale is carried out. Smallholder producers rarely benefit from this added value. In assessing the profitability of the enterprise it is necessary to understand the costs incurred and returns generated at each stage in the production process. Otherwise, as this case study of vegetable exports from Zimbabwe and Kenya illustrates, while the overall enterprise may be profitable the actual return to the growers may be insufficient to attract and retain their participation.