Farmer transforms arid Jotsholo into greenbelt

Nqobile Tshili

Bulawayo Bureau

THE Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) has extended its fruitful partnership with investor and businessman, Mr Brent le Reux, allowing him to continue steering the operations of its estate in Jotsholo, Matabeleland North Province.

Mr le Reux’s successful agro-farming enterprise has become a shining example of the potential for agricultural development in the region, inspiring many to embrace farming as a viable livelihood.

Mr le Reux joined forces with ARDA in 2015, forming a public-private partnership that has yielded remarkable results.

The partnership’s success has led the Government to extend the lease for another decade, recognising the positive impact it has had on the local community.

The estate, under Mr le Reux’s management, produces a variety of crops on a commercial scale, including wheat, potatoes, potato seed, and maize.

Additionally, Mr le Reux is committed to giving back to the community through his corporate social responsibility initiatives, which include distributing chomolia to vulnerable populations.

With the country at the peak of an El Niño-induced drought affecting cattle, he produces affordable stock feed for farmers. Mr le Reux does not believe in the word “impossible”, stating that with every challenge, there is a need to find a working solution.

Our Bulawayo Bureau had the opportunity to engage with him as he took the news crew through his vast farming empire, which is also not immune to climate-induced challenges.

Born in Mutare, Manicaland, 58 years ago, Mr le Reux said he has been in business for 36 years, mainly operating in South Africa in the footwear and manufacturing industry. Despite his success in those ventures, there was always something missing in him, the desire to be involved in agriculture.

He employs a highly mechanised, technologically advanced farming system at the farm for improved productivity. Mr le Reux says farming is something inherent in all Zimbabweans, and investing in the agriculture sector was very natural for him.

“In 2015, an opportunity came where there was a chance to come and play a role in Zimbabwe, and like most Zimbabweans, I had missed home. So in 2015, our opportunity to farm with ARDA came, and the only farm available at the time was Jotsholo. My wife confused Jotsholo with Tsholotsho, but Jotsholo is much tougher than Tsholotsho, the heat, the dryness, the toughness of the region, and today I think I’m a qualified Matabele,” says the father of two.

He described his first experience coming to the region as a baptism of fire, but nine years later, his experience has conditioned him to conquer whatever challenge he faces.

Mr le Reux says his operations at ARDA-Jotsholo Estate have inspired the community to take farming seriously, realising how profitable it can be.

“Jotsholo and most of the Matabeleland region are not known as farming regions, and we are probably one of the only large-scale farms, but we do have fertile soils. They are strong in nutrients, and we do have water. We are not just providing them with a salary but with hope. I will give you an example: when we started farming, no one was doing it. They see us growing vegetables, wheat, and potatoes, and they are saying, ‘Surely if he can do it, we can do it as well.’ We have started to see that hope being shared,” he says.

Mr le Reux believes in President Mnangagwa’s philosophy that only Zimbabweans can contribute to the development of the country. He says there is a need to harness all its expertise, both in the diaspora and locally, to advance the developmental agenda.

“We believe we can play a role in the future development — the hope, the plans; the desire to get ahead, to have a full stomach, to have a job, to have a career. It’s very exciting to be back in Zimbabwe. We encourage all the Zimbabweans who are not here, in the United Kingdom, working in South Africa, to please come back home and let us make a difference. The more energy we can bring back to the country, the better,” says Mr le Reux.

He notes that while there are many opportunities in farming, it remains a challenge to unlock serious funding to increase productivity. Banks need to reform and accept crops as a form of collateral.

“People in Zimbabwe need food. We have water, land, and sunshine; we just need to make it productive. When it comes to support, we always expect the Government to come to the party, but I believe that we individuals, private and public sectors, need to come to the party as well. The Government has given us an opportunity; now it is up to us. The banks need to come to the party.

“Today, if you want to borrow money from the banks, it’s very difficult. The banks don’t view crops as collateral, and I think that is an area that, as a country, we need to sort out the finances. It will open a lot of opportunities for new and upcoming farmers.”

He is involved in corporate social responsibility programmes, providing food to the orphaned and widowed, with one hectare of chomolia planted to feed the vulnerable.

“When it comes to community development, the key is to love people, and to do that, start with widows and orphans because there is no one to love them. Widows are without men and leadership in their homes, and orphans have no parents. The role that we play is to fill the gap and make sure that someone cares and loves them. We provide them with umfushwa (dried chomolia) to supplement their nutrition, and we don’t charge them,” he says.

Mr le Reux commended the support they receive from the Government, saying it provides him with stability to increase productivity. “The Government of Zimbabwe has been good to us. We have had an opportunity to lease land from ARDA, and that has opened opportunities in agriculture. We have been given a decent tenure, and we know we will be here for a while, helping the community because we will be creating employment,” says Mr le Reux.