ECIAfrica

Technical Experts

Specialist

Enterprise, Finance and Agribusiness Development

Sydney Zharare is an agricultural economist and has extensive practical experience in managing commercial agribusiness operations and creating business linkages between these and emerging farmers. Before coming to ECIAfrica in 2006, he was Operations Manager at Johannesburg Fresh Produce, in charge of wholesale operations. At ECIAfrica, he has been involved on various projects as project manager, market linkages specialist, market scoping specialist, and project associate. His core competencies are in project management, value chain analysis, budgeting, gross profit control and analysis, and strategic planning. Sydney has hands-on experience in dealing with smallholder and commercial farmers, having been involved in contract farming, extension, procurement, wholesaling, retailing and distribution of a variety of horticultural products. Sydney was instrumental in helping emerging farmers and cooperatives in Zimbabwe's Manicaland and Mashonaland provinces access inputs and markets through projects with the US Agency for International Development Linkages for the Economic Advancement of the Disadvantaged programme and Christian Care. He also has vast experience in retail operations management having managed the fresh produce departments of various SPAR retail stores.

Sydney holds a BSc (Honours) in agricultural economics and Extension from the University of Zimbabwe and a certificate in produce management and operations from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. He is currently studying towards his MSc in agricultural economics, majoring in agricultural policy, at the University of Pretoria.

Return to Technical Experts