Farming should be a successful business

Freedom Mutanda
Zimbabwe’S detractors have persistently said a black person can never be a good and successful farmer; it is in his make-up that he must be subservient to the white man notwithstanding the huge number of excellent projects carried out by the indigenous farmer and entrepreneur over the years.
Painting everyone with the same brush is utterly insidious for there are a thousand and one black farmers who have done well under extreme circumstances. They may have come across enormous challenges but they have lived to tell the tale like the proverbial cat that is reputed to have nine lives.

One such farmer is Lucky Mhlanga. He is an A2 farmer in Middle Sabi. After 2002, he benefited immensely from the land reform crafted by the Government. The land reform started in 1980 but accelerated after the 2000 Constitutional Referendum. Mhlanga got farming tips from his father who owns several plots at Birchenough irrigation scheme.

Those basic skills emboldened him to venture into the unknown world of commercial farming which hitherto was the preserve of the whites. At first many of his colleagues cautioned him against leaving his thriving retail concern to do what they deemed unthinkable. He didn’t lose hope as he had been trained to grow cotton after his Chinyamukwakwa experience in the tending of cotton.

Therefore, Mhlanga was the man for the job of making the land reform to be a model. He reiterates that in farming it is all about timing and adequate inputs that have to be augmented by favourable weather patterns. Invariably, a bumper harvest can only be in evidence if everything is equal.

Having seen that his farming may be hamstrung by irrigation problems whenever one or two plot holders failed to plant crops or pay utility bills, Mhlanga developed a 75-horsepower pumping system in his main line that was sufficient for his hectares. It is 1.1 kilometres long; he contracted a company to do that.

Mhlanga has never failed to utilise land. He said: “Failure to make use of the land is an indication of failure on the part of the farmer to appreciate what land reform has done to the generality of the Zimbabwean people.’’

Asked how he managed to farm continuously in the face of adversity, Mhlanga said: “I could not afford to make the Government a laughing stock and I owed it to a generation to beat the drums of war against hunger and economic stagnation owing to lack of raw materials from the agriculture sector to power industry.”

Although part of his farm, 30 hectares, has been taken over by a contractor to grow beans, he planted maize in the remaining 10 ha. The green maize is a boon to him. Haulage trucks from as far as Harare come to buy the ‘‘greens’’ and the workers are happy as they get their salaries timeously.

That raises the workers morale and productivity is enhanced. He has workers who have spent a decade with him. Yes, he has challenges like anyone in the cut-throat world of afro business. Domestic animals stray into his field often and destroy his maize cobs. The high cost of electricity and water coupled with high chemical and labour costs threaten to strangle him but he bites the bullet and remain forward looking for him to pass the litmus test – success in agriculture – that the government has set before him. Rodents occasionally destroy a sizeable portion of his field but he takes that in his stride.

One way he has ensured a generational succession plan was to send his son Kris, to an agriculture college to learn the ropes of farming and later made him refine his knowledge by reading for a degree in agriculture at Africa University. Kris manages the farm along commercial lines.

Mhlanga has no regrets on his leaving the retail sector to concentrate on the lucrative agro-business. He has bought several immovable and movable properties from the proceeds of his farming venture.

Mhlanga is happy that this season may be a turning point for farming as a business if the $2 billion agriculture revolving facility comes to fruition.

He hopes to have a lateral pivot that cost $58 000 that will ultimately reduce costs. It remains to be seen whether Mhlanga will be able to utilise the 40 hectares when the government helps the farmers to get out of the quagmire they are in and be part of the mix as the ZIM-ASSET train continues to go forward.