Trade Information Brief: Vegetables

With rising incomes worldwide, improved transport and various in-ternational trade agreements, markets around the world are expanding and their demand for variety is rising. Increasingly, fruit and vegetables are seen as essential in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which not only increases the importance of fruit and vegetables as necessities, but also makes for higher year-round demand. Critically important for SADC (and other southern countries) is the fact that their produce is harvested during the off-seasons of the northern countries. Counter-seasonality means they can supply the northern markets during periods when their domestic supply is low, giving southern countries a foothold in a market that is often difficult to access.