In the vast rhythm of agriculture, there is one constant: the farmer bears the weight of everyone's bread. From sunrise to sunset, they labour through dust, sweat, pests, rising costs, and now, market betrayal. And yet, when the harvest finally comes, so too does a familiar pain their produce trampled, their efforts undervalued, and their pockets left empty.

Today’s markets are no longer a place of reward for the grower, but a battleground where the middleman walks away with the fat cheese, leaving the farmer with crumbs. Farmers across the region are crying out: "They step on our produce, both literally and figuratively!" and rightly so.

The Pain Behind the Price

A farmer is not paid for the crop; they are paid for the risk. Every season is a gamble against unpredictable weather, pests, poor inputs, theft, transport delays, and pricing shocks. No insurance. No protection. Just hope and hard work.

And yet, when they finally arrive at the market, the so-called buyers most of them middlemen dictate prices that barely cover costs. Some even go as far as stepping over the very crops they're supposed to buy. In that moment, all dignity is lost.

“You can’t milk the cow and kick it at the same time.”

But that is exactly what our current system is doing.

There Were Better Ways

Our elders ran better systems. Long before modern exploitative markets, there were grain banks, cooperatives, communal seed-sharing systems, and local processing hubs that reduced dependency on middlemen. Farmers controlled more of the chain from production to storage to sales. There was a shared prosperity mindset, not this extractive approach where only the last link in the chain gets paid well.

What happened to that spirit? What happened to agro-dealers trained in ethics? What happened to farmer-run marketplaces?

“When the roots are forgotten, the fruit starts to rot.”

We need to return to value chain dignity not just in word, but in structure.

The Urgent Shift Needed

It’s time to redesign the value chain with the farmer at the centre. That means:

Decentralized processing units near farms

Farmer cooperatives with bargaining power

Digital platforms that eliminate exploitative middlemen

Training in value addition so produce doesn’t rot waiting to be bought

Policy protection that rewards production AND risk-taking

Farming be it agroecology, regenerative, or conventional is painful. But what breaks the farmer is not the sun, the pests, or the weeds. It’s the system that devours their sweat and spits out a price too low to live on.“A society that eats without honouring its farmers is digging its own grave with a silver spoon.”

By Dr. Brix

Agro-Ecology & Agribusiness Expert | Value Chain Specialist | Regenerative Agriculture Advocate

With over a decade of experience transforming agricultural systems across Southern Africa, I specialize in sustainable farming, agribusiness value chains, and regenerative agriculture. Let’s grow a resilient future together.

(tziwa94@gmail.com)