Tapuwa Mashangwa
ONE of the lessons I learnt this week is that there is nothing for free and those who succeed in life are usually the ones that are willing and decide to pay for any commodity or service. The Bible clearly states that man should work in order to survive yet so many individuals do not want to pay for anything and the thought of taking out money from their pocket to pay for a an agricultural commodity or service is abominable. There is no success without sacrifice.

The first reason why farming is under performing in Zimbabwe is due to capital constraints. The average land owner does not have a sufficient disposable income to invest in agriculture. Having a borehole drilled requires about $2 000 to $4 000 depending on the depth required. A drip irrigation system for a hectare of land plus installation costs on average $4 000, where does one get that kind of capital? Fertilizers alone for most crops require usually a minimum of $300, not considering the costs of hiring a tractor, labour, hybrid seeds, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides etcetera.

Zimbabwean banks should do more to assist farmers. There are very few banks in Zimbabwe with an agricultural division headed by an agricultural expert who actually possesses the practical experience to be able to assist farmers in their loan applications. It is commendable that the Government is trying to assist farmers through the Command Agriculture programme. Not all farmers that apply for Command Agriculture will be successful.

The second issue is that there are many talking farmers and very few practical farmers. It is so common nowadays to hear someone say, ‘I have land’, ‘ngile nsimu’ and ‘ndine munda’. However, if one asks those individuals what exactly they are doing with the piece of land most of them will tell you that they are using a bit of it to grow something; that they are not sure what to do or the farm is under performing.

The reason for the lack of growth is that there are very few farmers that take farming seriously. It is still a hobby or pastime for many of them and until they take farming seriously they will not grow. Just this past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting a young man who was employed as an electrical engineer at ZESA and was doing farming. He quit his job to go full time into farming and now he is doing wonders in the Shangani area on just about three hectares of land. I am not advising people to leave their jobs for farming but all I am saying is that are you willing to quit your job to go into farming? The likely answer is no. This is because so many people claim to be farmers yet do not know what they are doing, what their farm vision is and do not have a written down plan for what they should have achieved in 10 years. Very few are doing this.

Farming is a business yet so many farmers do not have registered companies. How can professionalism be attained when one uses their personal bank account as their business account. There is something wrong with that scenario. How does one efficiently and effectively assess the profitability or performance of their farming enterprise when one is paying schools fees, ZESA, fertilizers and buying groceries from the same account? Then the Zimbabwean community is surprised why farming is underperforming!

Everything that one commits to requires planning and taking the appropriate and corresponding growth procedures. The steps for agricultural success are simple. Research the market first, grow or rear what the market wants, set up the infrastructure and management system that will contribute to the successful implementation of the project, buy all the necessities the project requires and finally manage the project well right up to the point of selling off the produce.

A farmer should have the following experts’ contacts saved in their mobile phone; veterinary experts, agronomists, agricultural engineers, irrigation engineers, accountants/bookkeeper, farm managers etc. Not only just have them but they should be also in constant touch with them. Every individual has a role to play and no one under the sun knows it all. We need each other and the contribution of other people to grow. Growth is a collective process and journey. Everyone who is successful has had someone assist them in some way or the other.

The prayer of serenity says, ’Father in Heaven, please grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference’.

The weather is something we have no control over but we can manipulate it and prepare for any outcome. For drought we seek irrigation methods, for hail and heavy rains we construct greenhouses or use hybrid seeds that are resistant to harsh conditions. There is a solution to everything. God made man in His own image and we have the intelligence and wisdom to apply for our success.

The writer is Eng. Tapuwa Justice Mashangwa, the Founder and CEO of Emerald Agribusiness Consultancy based in Bulawayo. He can be contacted on +263 771 641 714 and email; [email protected]