Veggie growing empowers villagers

Maxwell Mahere, 48, of Svisva Village, Chihota, is an enterprising businessman who believes in team work and equal sharing of available wealth. He survives on vegetable growing and poultry projects.

As demand for his farm produce exceeded his output, he contracted fellow villagers to help boost crop production. Mahere is contracted to supply fresh vegetables to Marondera Provincial Hospital, boarding schools, clinics and households around Marondera residential suburbs.

“I am a communal farmer who believes in making an honest living out of the soil. I inherited the rural land from my late parents in 2000 and have been working on it ever since.

“The project is run on a one hectare plot and is an all year venture since I acquired irrigation equipment and sunk boreholes at the plot. I also own a reliable old Mazda B1600 Pick-up which serves as transport to the market for the produce.

“Initially I would grow vegetables on a small scale for family consumption and sell some to neighbouring families. With time I decided to turn commercial.

Given a chance

“I approached Marondera Provincial Hospital with offers to supply them with vegetables. The authorities gave me a chance but emphasised that they wanted a supplier with the capacity to make adequate and consistent vegetable deliveries to the institution throughout the first six months of the initial contract. I assured them that I would not fail them.

“I managed to meet my end of the deal for the first two months and realised at a family level I would not last the remaining four months of the contract. This was when I took other willing villagers aboard to help complement my efforts.

“The villagers I approached indicated that they were willing to be part of my project, but they lacked resources such as fertilizer, seed and pesticides needed for proper vegetable growing. To achieve my objectives I offered them inputs so that they could grow the crop on contract terms.

“After each harvest I would pay the farmer a nominal fee calculated at 20 per cent of the sales. Some 10 households accepted the deal and continued to be part of the contracted vegetable farming success story.

Improving welfare

“We specialise in growing vegetables such as covo, rape, tomato, peas and carrots. Before the end of this year we will have added cabbage growing to our farm project. Families which accepted my offer have improved their welfare tremendously as a result of income generated from the venture.

“Those who struggled to send children to school have since changed their fortunes as their children now missed no lessons as a result of non payment of fees. On average, each participating household earns an average US$150 out of the project.

“To avoid putting all my eggs in one basket, I am also involved in a medium scale poultry

project. Given complications associated with broiler chicken rearing in rural areas, I opted for the runner chicken project. Runner chickens fend for themselves and are resistant to diseases which affect the broiler type.

“I started the project 2008 with seven hens and a cock and now run a more than 1 500 chicken project. Though I sell the chickens at a high rate to locals and at big institutions such as hospitals and boarding schools, stocks remains constant due to the high rate of hatching”.

Community success

Households which joined the Mahere vegetable project rejoiced at the unexpected positive change of their fortunes.

“Before joining the Mahere contract vegetable growing project I struggled to make ends meet as I lived from hand to mouth. My family could not afford three decent meals a day and often went to bed on an empty stomach. My three orphaned nephews were kicked out of school due to failure to raise school fees. The dire situation has since become a thing of the past. My nephews are back at school and I now manage to put food on the table.

I hope to be weaned from the project and go it alone since I have acquired some resources and skills to run such projects. Thanks to Mahere for opening such an invaluable opportunity for my family. I used to seat idly on the land due to both resources and skills,” said Mbuya Nemiya Mhurura from Svisva Village.

Following the Mahere project success story, other villagers around Chihota have adopted the contract farming concept. Idle youths have also been taken aboard and according to local elders, juvenile delinquency has been reduced.