SHE looks too old and frail to work in a field, let alone clear bushes and dig holes for conservation farming on a two-hectare piece of land.

But Ms Khethiwe Nkomazana’s determination is self-dependence.

Born in Mpindo, Gwayi area, in a family that survived on farming, Ms Nkomazana of Mabale area in Hwange is already busy on her piece of land where she has cleared over an acre and is preparing to dig holes.

Motorists driving along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway may have spotted an elderly woman, slowly working under the scorching sun on a small field between Cross Mabale and Lupote.

She doesn’t remember her age but by merely looking at her, she could be in her 80s.

Ms Nkomazana sets off before dawn carrying food provisions for the day and slowly walks to her field about a kilometre away, taking more than an hour on the way.

She works in the morning and rests to prepare a meal before resuming in the afternoon before heading home at sunset.

The area is infested with wild animals including lions, elephants and hyenas, and her field is a stone’s throw away from a spot where a villager was killed by hyenas which dragged his body two kilometres into the bush early this year.

Ms Nkomazana stays alone and inherited the piece of land from her late father, and has a brother who she identified as Clifford and is employed as a soldier.

She said she has never been married and has no child.

Ms Nkomazana could be one of the few that have started preparing land for the 2021/22 farming season, challenging even many successful and mechanised commercial and small-scale farmers.

Sadly, she is not aware that the farming method she has been undertaking every year, preparing land between August and September and planting in October or November, is exactly the Intwasa climate-proofing method being spearheaded by Government.

A news crew caught up with Ms Nkomazana as she worked on her piece of land at around 2PM.

“I come here in the morning every day and start clearing the land. When it gets hot, I rest under a shed before resuming later. I will move to the other once I’m done here and then burn the grass because most of it is mixed with thorny bushes. I will then dig holes and put manure, cover with soil a bit before planting,” said Ms Nkomazana.

This has been her routine every year.

She is one of the few farmers who always have the first crops in Mabale area where she grows groundnuts, round-nuts and wheat.

She said her 2020/21 harvest was better because of the rains received this year but she faced post-harvest challenges as rats destroyed her produce.

Ms Nkomazana said she is not used to a life of begging although some villagers help her with food and other needs.

“I harvested some grains this past season but most of it has been destroyed by rats at home. So, some villagers help me with food. If there is anyone who wants to help me, I would love to be assisted with digging holes,” she said.

“I do everything on my own and after digging I gather this grass and tree leaves and put in the holes as manure. If I stay at home no one will work for me and I also can’t just sit under a tree because it’s hot, I don’t want that.”

Provincial Agritex officer in charge of Matabeleland North and Bulawayo Mr Dumisani Nyoni said Ms Nkomazana is one of the farmers that should be assisted with inputs.

“We are encouraging farmers to start making holes and those who have finished should start getting inputs. This year farmers are encouraged to prepare five plots to add cotton or sunflower and a legume crop,” he said.

The good rains in 2020/21 season coupled with Government supportive programmes such as Intwasa/Pfumvudza, Presidential Input Support Scheme, National Enhanced Crop Productivity Scheme or Command Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock Growth Plan and Farm Mechanisation Programme contributed to higher yields realised last season.

This enhanced food security and the country expects 2,8 million tonnes of maize to be delivered to the Grain Marketing Board this year against the annual requirement of 1,8 million tonnes.

Government saved at least US$300 million after it suspended the importation of grain.

The Meteorological Services Department has predicted good rains for the 2021-2022 farming season and Government has also said farming inputs will be timely released to take advantage of the good upcoming season. – @ncubeleon.