A call to Mango Processing

Every year, there is an abundance of mangoes harvested in Zambia from orchards, homes, farms and even forests where someone may have dropped or thrown away a seed that later grew into a tree.

Year in and year out, we see heaps and heaps of mangoes displayed for sale at our local markets and we gladly buy some until the mango season is gone and we crave them like no man’s business.

As the years come and go, with them a lot of mangoes go to waste as there is usually too much on the market and the people cannot buy them all. This brings losses to the farmers and traders and it irritates the common man as the heaps pollute the surroundings and invite flies.

But what if we preserved and processed those mangoes? What difference would that make on the economy? What impact will it have on the environment and what benefits does that stand to bring to the farmers and the traders.

Mangoes bear fruit on their own in Zambia without the use of chemicals or fertilizers. It would not be wrong to say they grow effortlessly unlike other fruit trees that we have to tend to closely.

We also have enough mangoes each season to last us up until the next season if we process and store them well.

Some people store mangoes in their freezers which they thaw and eat throughout the year but if you have done this before then you know the taste is not at all like what a mango should taste like.

It is important to note that in 2015, Mongu was scheduled to open a mango processing plant that was not only meant to store and process our much loved fruit but create 2000 jobs as well.

Up to date however, a survey into shops and leading supermarkets has shown no results of that processing.

It is refreshing though to see companies like Chakwankwa and how they have stepped up in fruit processing with their dried fruits and other fruity products.

Having said all this, what next? Let us get back to the questions asked earlier on and see they can help us in any way.

If we preserved and processed mangoes what difference would that make on the economy?

I may not be an economist, but I know enough to know that importing every little thing is not good for any country’s economy. Instead of importing mango juice of jam from countries that use chemicals to grow them, why not process our own into finished products that we can sell to those and other countries.

This issue of exporting timber and importing furniture, or exporting copper and importing copper wires really drags us back as a country. The agriculture industry should not just be about production but about processing as well.

If we preserved and processed mangoes, what impact will it have on the environment?

As earlier alluded, a lot of mangos go to waste every season and these are disposed off in the most undignified ways. A walk at Lusaka’s Soweto market will show one heaps upon heaps of mangoes that have gone to waste. Some of things mangoes find themselves in drainages which then get blocked and the spiral goes on as ripple effects are birthed.

It is true that it is not only mangoes that cause pollution, but making sure they don’t add to the pollution is a good start.

If we preserved and processed mangoes, what benefits does that stand to bring to the farmers and the traders?

Yearly, people sell mangoes and throw what is not bought. But if there were companies and individuals that bought them in bulk because they need them to make jam, marmalade, mango juice or other mango products. That would mean more money for the traders and farmers. It would also mean cheaper mango products for the citizen because they are produced from within.

It is my sincere hope that whoever picks this paper up and reads this article will think of better things to do with the mangoes that will soon come rather than just eating them.

There is need for the private sector, the government and farmers to invest in mango processing as this will not only boost the economy but will reduce pollution as well.

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