For close to two years I used to be a vendor at the farmer’s markets in Harare. We used to sell our vegetables(mostly covo and rape greens) at Mbare Musika and the one in Highfields. Those are the busiest places in Harare on any day especially Mbare that has a bad reputation.
Mbare is Harare’s oldest suburb. Initially it was designed for single men to come and live and work in Harare while their families stayed in the rural homes. For accommodation, one bedroom apartments were constructed. I do not know if it is the official name but these apartments are called Matapi. Somewhere along the line these apartments started housing families. The main bus station for rural buses is also in Mbare. There is also the farmer’s market, a retail market(Kumakoronyera), flea market(Mupedzanhamo) as well as hardware market(Siyaso). Needless to say Mbare is very busy, chaotic and notorious. Whatever you need to buy you can find it there. There is a joke that you can buy anything in Mbare including a person- illegal and immoral but no one would be surprised if it happened.
Picture from www.spiked.co.zw
When you visit Mbare you leave home anything that you do not want lose. It is rife with pickpockets, thieves and con men. It is also the best place to get a bargain on anything especially food. Sometimes you are charged according to how you look, if you are wearing your designer wear, chances of getting a bargain are really low.
We actually stayed in Mbare (the police camp next to ZBC) for about a year.
Selling at the farmer’s market is hard work. Every Sunday we would go to the farm, about an hour away from Harare and harvest whatever vegetable we would have. Unlike the retail market, there are no tables at the farmer’s market. It is just an open space. You have to pick a spot the night before and leave your vegetables there. It is this time that you are able to gauge how the market will go. Supply and demand – the more vegetables are there, the less money you will make. It is a gamble.
The next morning the day starts at 3.30am. You pay your market fees and then market starts around 4 am. You can not go alone to the market, the con men will make meat out of you. Most of the people who buy from the farmers are good people but being a busy place there are a lot of bad people there two. They will try to con you in many ways like
- A large group will approach you wanting to buy from you. They will ask for the price and haggle with you. When you have agreed then they will all hand you money at the same time. While you are trying to collect the money, some in the group will be stealing from you. If you grew up in Zimbabwe you will know most women who go to the market always have a zambia(wrap). I understand for most it is to keep you warm and somehow it is also to protect them from being raped. However I met with a group that used the zambia to steal from me. Some in their group were handing me money at the same time, one of them took bundles of vegetables and passed it through her legs and used the zambia as cover. She did it so fast I did not even notice. Only afterwards, someone who had seen it told me afterwards. Good thing that day, the market was good so I did not lose a lot money.
- A man approached me and offered to buy all my vegetables so he wanted a discount. It was a good deal so I agreed. He handed me the money and it was short. I told him he had not given me enough money. I gave him back the money and then he said he would count the money while I watched. I noticed when I gave it back to me he folded some notes and then he started to count the money. He counted the folded money twice, that way the same short money would be enough. I told him that I had seen what he had done. He smiled and said, “You are lucky my sister you noticed that. Now let me go and find someone else to trick.” Later I noticed that he was actually part of a gang that went on to trick someone else. I could not say anything because they will thoroughly beat you. Yeah, I am a coward. I know that later on they would sell the same vegetables to someone else and probably trick them as well.
The markets are dirty and overcrowded and hopefully they will get improved though it is unlikely. A lot of people who have “good” office jobs look down on the people who sell at these markets because they also look dirty and unkempt. It is kind of hard to look good at 3.00am. The short time I did this, we made good money especially as we got better at it. I learnt more about gardening, marketing and economics in Mbare than I did in class from people who had never been to school. If I ever have to hire someone I will look at experience over education.
I would like to sell at the markets again, though I am not sure I can still go to bed at 11pm, wake up at 3 am and go to work at 8am!