“Looking at Matabeleland right now, the predominant agriculture is cattle and maize, neither of which is doing at all well. You need at least 20 head of cattle and 100 ha to make a living. The maize crop fails seven years out of 10 due to low rainfall. This has led to an economic and ecological spiral, with poverty worsening every year as more cattle look for less grass, and the grass itself becomes less productive,” said a spokesperson for the group.
This has put communities and social structures under pressure as many fathers/ breadwinners are forced to look for work in cities, in South Africa or abroad. Families are separated, children are brought up without parents, and the ecology is severely threatened by erosion and overgrazing.
“Looking in the natural there seems little hope – poor soils, low rainfall, and very high temperatures – but take a look at Israel. It is:
•One sixth the size
•Population 13.5 million – 4 times the size
•Rainfall 230 mm – •1/3 of ours
•Exporting food
What are we missing?
TMG belives that there can be no agricultural revolution without a spiritual revival. “In Isaiah 61 the bible speaks of good news to the poor. This good news is that God has plan for them, and it starts with them knowing Him, and then knowing who they are in Him, and what he has given them. But it is also an exhortation to the church – what good is it when I say to a brother in need be blessed, but I do not give him anything?” says the website.
“The plan starts with vision – asking God what he sees, what He has given Matabeleland, and we work with that. What we have in the high temperature, little frost, and low rainfall is a natural green house. And so a plan came together, something that is not cattle or maize, but something that is intensive and high-yielding. That plan is using what we have to grow tomatoes, and raise chickens – not only does this enable us to best use the resources we have, but there are very good economic reasons too. People need to see the opportunities. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
When TMG was launched the group had a theory that if a rural farmer sells two cows for about $1,200 he can buy 5,000 tomato seedlings, producing approximately 20,000kg of tomatoes, worth between $4,000.00 (if they sell at 20cents/kg) and $16,000.00 (if the market price is 80cents/kg).
Fantastic crop
Now they have the evidence of a farmer who did just that. Albert Sibanda came into contact with the programme in October 2013 when he signed up for a three-day training course in Kezi. He had been a bricklayer most of his adult life, and had never farmed, save for his cattle. Following training, he took part of his paddock – a quarter of a hectare – and started preparing it for his tomato crop. The weather wasn’t great – there was too much rain last season, and he faced the problems of aphids, blossom-end rot and a bit of dampening off in the early stages of the crop.
Not deterred, Sibanda attended module 2 of the training to consolidate the learning he already had. He maintained high standards, used eco-friendly fertilisers such as manure from his cows to give the crop a healthy start (cow manure is a good basal dresser), and chicken manure as a top dresser to compliment compound J. Using free local resources also saves him some money and improves his profit.
Sibanda is now starting to harvest his crop, and is looking at getting about 19,000kg – a fantastic yield. His quality is also very good, which should get him a good price at the market. The market price for the past month or so has been 60 to 70cents per kg (which would earn him $13,300); however last week a larger commercial farmer delivered large quantities which dropped the market price to 35cents/kg. Even at this lower price, Sibanda still earns $6,650 – not bad for a $1,200 investment.
Of course this is only guesswork at present because Sibanda has not yet finished harvesting. An additional factor that will help him and other farmers is the new legislation passed recently to stop the import of agro-produce from other countries in order to give local farmers a chance. This is contributing to the higher prices the farmers can get for their produce.
“The vision is not small – to turn Matabeleland Green will take a lot of resources and a lot of time. We want to give the farmers the best support systems we can, and right now we need transport and logistical services, we need an abattoir, and we need to assemble the canning plant. We cannot do all of it at once, and we will therefore start by making sure there is good transport for the produce,” said the spokesperson.
The initial investment will be trucks. The group needs five good 7.5ton trucks and is looking for investment of £150,000.00. – for more information or to invest please visit www.turningmatabelelandgreen.org.uk
Post published in: News