Zambia diversifies

26 Nov 2013 - by Liesl Venter

Diversification is the name of
the new African game and
while Zambia will still be reliant
on its copper for years to come, it
is gradually starting to show its
strength in other areas.
Grape farming is one of these
and seemingly on the increase in
the landlocked southern African
country which last year for
the first time exported
grapes to Europe. While
cultivation has been
ongoing for several
years, product
is starting to be
moved, and Beyond
Africa Logistics
Consultants
recently moved a
consignment of the
fruit from Lusaka
to Cape Town.
“We initially
questioned it when asked to become
involved in the transport of the
cargo,” says the company’s Ruth
Butcher. “We thought there had to
be a mistake as surely grapes would
rather be going
from Cape Town
to Lusaka.”
But, she
says, they were
pleasantly
surprised by
what they found
in Zambia.
“Grape farming
in Zambia is
taking off and
while it might be slow going they
are developing a sure and steady
market.”
She said one of the biggest
challenges they faced in transporting
the fruit was ensuring that the
process all happened as timeously
and effectively as possibly.
“We had to make sure that once
packed onto pallets they were loaded
as soon as possible and moved
quickly. The trial load was extremely
successful,
taking only
three days from
Lusaka to Cape
Town and the
grapes were
delivered without
incident.”
She said
already the
company had
been contracted
for more loads later this year.
“The grapes are for export to elite
supermarket stores in the UK and
are moved via reefer trucks to Cape
Town from where they are shipped
to Europe.”