Vusumuzi Dube
Amanda Mlevu, Sunday News Reporter
THE world has made it a norm for farming to be a man’s profession but Ms Lucy Kundai Zvaraya (31) has challenged the status quo after she established by thriving agronomy consultancy company.
Born in Bulawayo’s Nketa 6 suburb, the single mother of two has managed to grow her consultancy company, Farm Makeover company, which is based in Nyabira, Harare to become one of the leading in the industry.
“Basically I teach people how to farm. It has been hard to succeed in a male dominated industry as most people were not willing to learn farming from a female. I am hands on and get into the field myself, the money is in the dirt. I have been in the farming industry since 2017,” said Ms Zvaraya.
The agronomy enthusiast has proved that you don’t need millions to make your dream come true, with the small funds that she has she has made it happen.
“I am a self-starter I saved money I was making through consultancy and started selling IPM products The good thing about farming is you can start small. I am yet to receive any funding. I was recently selected for the United States Program called Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) and currently participating in the Cohort 3 and have hopes of applying and winning the grants available but so far have no outside funding though it is really needed to grow some of my ideas,” she said.
At her farm Ms Zvaraya is involved in farming of most horticultural crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, cabbages both open field and greenhouse farming.
Ms Zvaraya revealed that she applied for Media studies at the Midlands State University but her application ended up in agronomy department and was offered a degree she knew nothing about. She believes that this was a calling for her because by accident she was given the best opportunity of her life.
“I am also involved in retail of integrated pest management products and greenhouse construction, my dream is to be a leader in the farming industry”, she said.
She travels regularly in Bulawayo to farmers that want her services in their fields and has plans to come back to her home city as business is growing there.
“Let’s break bias, Farming is for everyone regardless of gender. We all can fit in and make agriculture great,” said Ms Zvaraya.
Bongani Ndlovu