• MUSHROOM growing at Jihai.

By STEPHEN KAPAMBWE  –
TEN-OR-SO women clad in white protective gear are engaged in some task.
They work with covered faces in a restricted refrigerated room that outsiders can only see via closed circuit television (CCTV) or through a heavy glass window accessible from an adjacent room.
This has nothing to do with the threat of Ebola or a medical procedure of any kind.
This is an everyday sight of workers sterilising seeds at the mushroom factory run by the Jihai Agriculture Investment and Development Group at Lusaka east Multi-Facility Economic Zone (MFEZ).
The factory which is yet to launch full scale production once construction of its structures is completed, seeks to make Zambia a base for edible fungus or mushroom production in Africa.
This came to light when Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Joseph Katema led an entourage on a familiarisation tour of the factory recently.
Dr Katema was accompanied by Permanent Secretary Bert Mushala and director for Press and media development Isaac Chipampe.
Although mushroom is a delicacy that has been enjoyed to a point that it is widely appreciated even in local folklore, its economic value has been largely unexploited.
Wild, naturally growing mushroom is the product most people are accustomed to.
The mushroom goes by the local names such as pampa, tente and tu nacitondo. Its supply is seasonal, often dependant on abundant moisture that comes with the rainy season.
It flourishes mainly in virgin soils widely available in the countryside.
In efforts to meet demand in towns and cities where fresh mushroom is highly sought after, rural households are often pressured to marshal labour to pick the mushroom for sale to traders.
Communities go to the extent of withdrawing children from school.
The children are sent on mushroom picking expeditions for weeks on end so that the families can earn some income from sales.
However, mushroom cultivation being already done by Jihai ensures all-year-round supplies using inexpensive methods that do not put pressure on labour.
Jihai is currently producing 15 tonnes of fresh mushroom everyday using locally available materials.
The process starts by mixing bagasse, cotton seed wool and sawdust which are used as a base and fertiliser on which the mushroom or fungus is grown.
The different materials are placed in containers in readiness for sterilisation.
During sterilisation, mushroom seeds are placed in the packaged materials in a sterile environment before the packages move into a room where they fruit. They are later moved to a spawn running room.
After spawn running, the packages are inoculated before the edible fungus or mushroom is allowed to grow to the harvesting stage in rooms where temperature, humidity and water intake is controlled.
After harvesting, the product is packaged and prepared for the market.
Jihai is currently producing oyster, king oyster and shitake types of mushroom which are organically produced without  the use of any chemicals.
The company is currently supplying fresh and dry mushroom on the local market although plans are underway to initiate mushroom exports to Malawi and Tanzania following requests received from the two countries.
Jihai Agriculture Investment and Development Group Chairperson Yao Yunwu who recently visited Malawi and Tanzania informed Dr Katema that his company is working on supplying its mushroom to the two neighbouring countries as well as others in the region with a view of making Zambia a base for cultivating mushroom in Africa.
“China has over 30 million people who are engaged in the mushroom industry and Zambia can learn from this because it has good and suitable climate for mushroom cultivation,” he said.
He said owing to Zambia having direct flights to Dubai, Jihai has an opportunity to expand the export of mushrooms towards the Far East.
Mr Yao said besides being interested in large scale agriculture production, Jihai is ready to extend its knowledge and expertise to small scale farmers. The company has, for example, researched and developed cost effective methods and tools which small scale farmers can use to cultivate mushrooms at a small scale level.
He said Jihai is ready to train and equip small scale farmers in cultivating mushroom which could be sold to boost both household income and food security.
He praised the Government for diversifying the economy from mining and putting emphasis on developing the country using agriculture.
Mr Yao, who is a researcher, said Zambia has 40 million hectares of arable land out of which less than ten per cent has been developed. He said whereas products from mining are non-renewable and the production ruinous to the environment, agriculture development is sustainable and beneficial to generation after generation of the country’s population.
The mushroom factory, which is the first mass production centre in Zambia, will cover 70,000 square metres when fully built.
Jihai which originates from China’s Jinlin Province and has agriculture investments in Russia, is currently developing a mixed farming project at the MFEZ involving vegetable production, crop cultivation, animal husbandry – involving keeping of cattle and goats – as well as fish production at its scenic leisure resort where an artificial river has been developed.
The strictly organic farming project is part of the Jihai’s Circular Agriculture or Cultivation Industry farming methods which rely on recycling different locally available materials to produce products and by-products that are used to fertilise the environment to enhance further production.
Jihai is also an advocate of recycling agriculture which encourages generation of no waste materials.
This means the company only uses materials which are by-products of agriculture and forestry.
Jihai also runs a product marketing and exhibition centre where products of its subsidiaries as well as those of other Chinese companies are displayed.
Dr Katema, who at some point volunteered to have a feel of an air tight box developed for small scale farmers for sterilising mushroom seeds, urged local media to empower people with information on social and economic development.
He said media need to empower people with information which is necessary to create wealth and development opportunities.
He said Jihai’s work is particularly important because Zambia has embarked on a path of achieving economic diversification from mining to agriculture, manufacturing and alternative economic activities.
“Emphasis is on agriculture because it has the capacity to take development to many people. Our agriculture products have for a long time been exported as raw materials, but you are processing your products. That is the way to go,” he said.
Edible fungus cultivation has the potential of helping rural communities that depend on agriculture to combat poverty and improve household income. Produced on a large scale, mushroom is poised to become one of Zambia’s leading food exports.