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Heavy Rains Usher In Misery To Wild Fruit Vendors

Selling wild fruits used to be a source of income for the vendors until the heavy rains.


BY BOKANI MUDIMBA | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | MAY 28, 2021

The heavier than usual rains have brought good fortunes for some but for wild fruit vendors, it's a sad tale.


HWANGE (The Citizen Bulletin) — At Cross Dete, a bus screeches to a halt blowing clouds of dust from the roadside and has hardly stopped when, oblivious of the danger of being run over, more than a dozen of hawkers swarm it with small dishes filled with different kinds of merchandise.

A divorcee and mother of one, Bridget Munkombwe is one of the vendors at Cross Dete whose daily routine involves waking up in the early hours of the day and venture into the bush to gather wild fruits which she sells to motorists.

Munkombwe, 35, says while selling wild fruits has been a brisk business over the years, this year it is subdued because there are fewer fruits.


“My day starts around 4 a.m. We team up and enter the bush to gather wild fruits. Over the years we would not go far as there would be plenty within the village but this year most of the trees have no fruits so we have to walk through the bush.”
Bridget Mukombwe


The incessant rains that fell in the country brought joy on the crop farming and water availability front but gloom to those who survive on selling wild fruits as most fell off the trees or rot due to excessive rains.

In previous seasons there would also be plenty of pumpkins, watermelons and cucumbers on the roadside but these have been invisible this year due to excessive rains.

The fruits include bird plum or umnyiyi (IsiNdebele) or nyii in Shona; chocolate berries (umtshwankela/mutsubvu) and velvet wild medlar (umviyo/munzwirimombe).

Others that are not yet ripe are African chewing gum (uxakuxaku/matohwe) baobab fruits; mpapanyuka or busika and umkhemeswane.

Munkombwe and several other vendors often have similar merchandise and getting a customer "is luck", says Selina Sithole, another hawker in Dinde.

“This requires patience and being able to convince a customer. From the bush we rush home just to eat and pack the fruits for sale. We spend the whole day here until sunset but these days our challenge is that we have limited fruits.”

“Last year we would bring about 5kg of umnyiyi per day but this year we hardly even have 1kg. This has reduced daily income and affected our livelihoods because this is the money we use for upkeep of our families. I have a daughter who is going to school and I need money for her fees, clothes and food,” Sithole adds.

Villagers have over the years flooded specific points along Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road and Cross Dete-Binga road to sell wild fruits to motorists and travellers.

Some of the popular selling spots along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road are Cross Jotsholo, Cross Dete, Dinde toll gate and Victoria Falls Airport while along Cross Dete-Binga they sell at Kamativi turn off, Siansundu, Siachilaba and Manjolo.

Over the years vendors from Bulawayo, Hwange, Victoria Falls and other towns would travel to get wild fruits from Hwange and Binga.


“Selling wild fruits used to be fast money and on a good day I would make US$10. Things are different this year.”
Cynthia Chauke, a hawker


A packet of umnyiyi ranges between US$0.50 to US$1 while chocolate berries are US$0.50.

At Kamativi turn-off vendors are sometimes disturbed by police who mount a roadblock less than 100 metres from the turn off as motorists are scared to stop.

James Ncube, a villager in Kamativi says children also sell fruits on the streets.


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“This is a source of money for families. Some send children to sell on the roadside as they concentrate on gathering from the bush,” Ncube, from Malaliya village adds.

However, the practice exposes children to dangers.

Recently, a girl was hit by a car and died on the spot at Cross Dete as she tried to cross the road behind a stationary bus while selling fruits.

Hwange’s Kachechete ward 3 councillor Givemeagain Moyo says this, together with insults and abuse from some motorists, are some of the challenges faced by hawkers.


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