A role model with two O’Level passes

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
WHEN Mr Gracious Dube (31) completed his Ordinary Level in 2006 and obtained only two passes in IsiNdebele and Agriculture, he did not expect to be a role model in life.

Mr Dube from Zamanyoni village in Matobo district, Matabeleland South province had to find other ways of eking a living after his poor performance.

He is among hundreds of school leavers whose hopes were dashed after failing to obtain the required five Ordinary Level passes.

Three years after completing his O’level, Mr Dube decided to venture into agriculture.

When a Chronicle news crew visited his irrigation plot recently, he was in the process of harvesting tomatoes which he planted in winter under greenhouses.

Mr Dube said because of the cold winter he could not get the best grade of tomatoes.

The other side of the plot is under maize and he said plans were underway to increase land under irrigation as he had adequate water.

Mr Dube said he was doing very well in farming and now teachers from Zamanyoni Secondary School were using his plot for practicals.

He said he was now producing for the market at Maphisa and was also supplyng some of the farm produce to markets in Bulawayo.

Mr Dube uses sand abstraction technique to draw groundwater to irrigate his plants.

“I was passionate about agriculture when I was at school and it is therefore not suprising that one of the subjects are passed is agriculture,” said Mr Dube.

He said with his two ‘O’level passes he enrolled at Ebenezer Training Centre in Matobo which he said enhanced his farming skills.

Ebenezer Training Centre is a private agriculture college offering training mostly to school leavers.

Mr Dube said while he was training, he was rearing chickens and by the time he completed the training he had 700 broilers.

“I used the money I raised from selling the chickens to buy the irrigation equipment and even fence the plot. I also bought an engine to pump water, drips, pipes and all the equipment that we have. We used to rent at the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) Maphisa, but theft of copper cables forced us to leave the farm and set base here,” he said.

Mr Dube said farming had transformed his life and he now wants to motivate other young people not to lose hope especially when they fail in school. “When we started we were using carts to ferry our produce to the different markets but now we have a vehicle for that.We decided to establish the irrigation scheme here in our rural area in order to teach and inspire local youths to venture into agriculture.

“We have engaged many of them so that they can learn the skills and we hope many of them will in future start their own projects,” he said.

Mr Dube said to transform rural communities, Government should capacitate communities with both capital and skills.

He said at the moment a lot of projects collapse as there are no linkages between markets and programmes.

“Government should come in and support community projects. We have observed that a lot of people in the community want to participate in socio-economic development but do not have the capital to start the projects.

Some people may have the capital to start the projects but it becomes difficult for them to link with markets.

“Some people may be able to produce but fail to link their products to the end users of those products. There is therefore a need for Government to capacitate communities so that they produce instead of depending on handouts,” he said.

Matabeleland South Irrigation Department provincial engineer, Shepherd Mpotegwa commended Mr Dube for taking farming as a business.

He said most people venture into agriculture after retiring when they no longer have the energy to produce.

“You don’t have to wait until you retire to pursue farming. Farming is a difficult job especially if you want it to be profitable. We encourage young people to venture into farming at an early age so that they can understand the challenges faced,” he said.

Eng Mpotegwa said it was important for communities to assist the youths with resources to venture into income generating projects like crop and livestock farming.

“Many of young people who cross the border work on farms in neighbouring countries which means they have the energy and skills,” said Eng Mpotegwa.-@nqotshili