SHANNISE DZOBO
MASVINGO–According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, in Zimbabwe over 70% of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Small holder farmers play a critical role in food and nutrition security in the country with their production but they are facing agricultural challenges like low soil fertility, reliance on rain fed systems, poor market accessibility and limited access to credit for working capital.
Despite all these challenges, one Masvingo District based new farmer stands out as he has turned his 20hectare farm he was allocated in 2021 through the land reform program into a mixed farming thriving project supplying the ancient city and beyond agricultural products.
Social Ndanga, found at Chindanya plot number 3, 20km away from Masvingo City and just a 1km off Masvingo – Mutare Highway in Hwendedzo under Chief Musara is singing a different song.
Ndanga told The Midweek Watch that the horticulture project is very difficult to start, but with time it becomes easier and smooth sailing through expertise.
“Horticulture is very hard in the early stages because it requires a lot of capital and we were uneasy to pour money into the project because one can lose all the savings, but we gambled right as everything has now fallen into place,’ said Ndanga.
“As a small holder farmer I have noticed that we are contributing a lot in the food security of people in Masvingo because we supply our products to different markets in the province as well as vendors who sell in small quantities,” said Ndanga.
The farm manager, Munodawafa Musemwa told The Midweek Watch that they are doing mixed farming at their 20h land with 3 hectares under drip irrigation and the rst has livestock and under seasonal water.
“We are doing mixed farming on this piece of land with animals that we are breeding and we have goats, sheep, chicken, ducks and turkeys and the numbers are growing each year.
“The other side has tomatoes, cabbages, butternuts and green pepper which is very much in demand in Masvingo City,” said Musemwa.
“We normally plant the Rio Grande and Trinity varieties which take up to 60 days to mature and we grow these through drip irrigation and we take almost four months harvesting.
“We draw our water for drip irrigation from a nearby river which is 100m away from the farm,” he added.
Musemwa also said that the positive response from the market is forcing them to increase production as they are now supplying their green produce to places like Chivi, Chiredzi and Harare sometimes.
“We are getting overwhelmed with the demand from Masvingo City at Chitima Market as we are also supplying schools like Alheit High School in Gutu and Riverton Academy and this is pushing us to increase production,” said Musemwa.
