Chronicle Editor
Sikhulekelani Moyo
DRIVEN by passion and a dream to become a farmer, a 39-year-old Bulawayo entrepreneur has engaged in seedling production utilising a small piece of land, quenching his desire to become part of the agriculture value chain.
Mr Relate Marimo the founder of Seedlings on 44 is operating on 1,5 acres of land in Bulawayo to produce horticultural seedlings, for Matabeleland.
“What motivated me to start seedling production is my passion for farming, I should say I couldn’t find land to exercise what I loved most, which was farming,” said Mr Marimo.
“The land I could get was too small so I ended up doing seedlings production to help farmers to achieve what I would have wanted to achieve as a farmer.
“Land is not the big issue, what we need is to be innovative and move with time, funny enough, from that small piece of land, I get much satisfaction, helping farmers to achieve their goals.”
Mr Marimo supplies both smallholder farmers and commercial farmers with seedlings.
His strategy is meant to assist farmers to planting early and harvest early, which he said will help farmers to enter the market first before the product floods.
“The advantage of seedlings is, you are already one month ahead of someone who is going to buy seeds,” he said.
“I started by producing 100 seedlings and I moved to 20 000 seedlings and we moved to 100 000 seedlings a year but now we do 14 million seedlings a year, but we don’t need hectares of land, it’s not about the space, it’s about thinking outside the box.”
Mr Marimo’s initiative moves in line with what Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister Vangelis Haritatos recently said where he urged youths to participate in any agriculture value chain rather than waiting to get land from the Government.
Speaking at the recently held Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) 84th Annual Congress held in Bulawayo, Deputy Minister Haritatos said the future of agriculture is in the hands of the youth and women.
“In Zimbabwe, we have youths who are very willing, they want to get involved in farming, yes some come to us saying we want lands, it’s not about the land, farming or agriculture is a very big value chain, which starts from the farm, we have logistics, we have markets, exports, and value addition,” said Deputy Minister Haritatos.
“So, we are encouraging our youths to get involved in those parts, don’t just look at primary farming.”
He said primary farming is associated with high risks, which include fluctuating producer prices, climate change, and Government policies.
“What’s exciting is in the value chain,” he said.
The Government is prioritising value addition and beneficiation of agricultural produce and minerals, a development which is meant to create jobs, boost export earnings, and import substitution.
Online Reporter