Mpumalanga’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs (DARDLEA) is moving ahead to the operational phase of Mpumalanga’s International Food Market (MIF) in Mbombela.
A soft launch would take place in June this year. This will be followed by an official launch of the fully operational market in August.
DARDLEA’s Head of Department, Cain Chunda, said it would be South Africa’s first large scale Food Market and would function according to the Commission Agents trading model used by other national fresh produce markets. “This means that sales at the Food Market will occur through intermediaries, commonly known as Fresh produce Market Agents.
They will be responsible for selling the produce on behalf of farmers, serving as aggregators and intermediaries of fresh produce. These agents, through the MIF, will assist local producers and ensure their products are available at a convenient place and time, in the requested quantities and quality, at fair prices,” he said.
“It is against this background that the Department, working collaboratively with the operator at the MIF, is calling on enterprises interested in serving as Market Agents at the MIF, to submit their bid proposals to receive training towards becoming accredited agents to trade in fresh produce. We believe that this is part of our efforts to drive the sector towards diversity, inclusivity and equitability,” Chunda explained.
Bid documents are accessible and can be downloaded from https://www.mif.market website. Closing date for submission is April 25.
A briefing will be held in Mbombela on April 10 and 11. Interested parties can follow DARDLEA’s social media platforms for full details.
