Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
COMMUNAL farmers in some resettlement areas outside Victoria Falls are cashing in on demand for fresh farm produce in the resort city.
There is no meaningful urban agriculture in Victoria Falls due to its type of soils and the presence of wild animals such as baboons, buffaloes and elephants that destroy gardens.
As a result, residents buy produce from villages in surrounding areas while some of the products come from as far as Bulawayo.
Before the lockdown, Zambian hawkers popularly known as omzanga used to cross the border into Victoria Falls to sell farm produce such as green mealies, pumpkin leaves, okra, as well as tomatoes and vegetables.
Their prices were generally lower than those found on the local market.
The absence of omzanga has proved to be a business opportunity for farmers from Matetsi, Masue, Woodlands and Chisuma who are enjoying the monopoly of providing fresh farm produce.
A Chronicle news crew has been witnessing a number of villagers from those areas moving around the streets in Chinotimba and Mkhosana suburbs selling farm produce.
Four or five cobs of green mealies are pegged at US$1, the same price with two small packets of okra or two bundles of pumpkin leaves.
Mrs Bongi Moyo from Masue about 10km outside Victoria Falls said on a good day she can make about US$15.
“We usually come on a daily basis but sometimes we are limited by transport. Each time I bring a 50kg bag of green mealies and I get between US$10 and US$15,” she said.
There are however, concerns that some might end up selling all their maize produce for the love of money and face hunger during the dry season.
Ms Similo Netha also from Masue said she expects a bumper harvest which is why she is selling.
“We dry planted and most of the maize crop is almost drying up. With the current rains we know the other crop will make it so we are not worried about harvest because we know we will get enough,” she said.
Matetsi, Breakfast, Woodlands and Masue resettlement areas are regarded as Hwange District’s breadbasket as they are the only areas with meaningful crop farming.
Other parts of Hwange are naturally dry and rocky and people mostly grow small grains such as millet and sorghum.
In some areas villagers rely on small-scale irrigation projects where they draw water from small streams that are usually flowing throughout the year.
A man who identified himself only as Mr Moyo from Chisuma said this rainy season has been a blessing as he planted a variety of crops.
“We usually draw water from a swamp that flows down into Zambezi but this year God smiled at us. I have been supplying tomatoes to many residents here in Victoria Falls and that has been sustaining my family during this lockdown,” he said.
Most crops in other villager around Monde, Chisuma, Sizinda, Ndlovu and Jambezi are however, not yet ripe.
Chief Mvuthu of Mvuthu area just outside Victoria Falls said most crops will be ready within the next two weeks. — @ncubeleon
Online Reporter