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LOCAL farming consortium company, Ferro Fresh Group is geared to develop small-holder farmers into successful exporters through a Brazilian mechanisation programme, Post Farming has learnt. Ferro Fresh Group managing director Mr Joseph Sanhanga said he had done all the ground work to get the programme on track, but was in need of Government support to purchase subsidised farming machinery and equipment under the More Food Africa programme sponsored by the Brazilian government.
Mr Sanhanga said they had already written a proposal letter to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to facilitate the arrangement with the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.
He said Ferro Fresh Group intends to create a high impact value chain which would in turn facilitate the utilisation of land in resettled areas, create employment, ensure national food security and promote and maintain a thriving base of sustainable agriculture among A1 and A2 farmers.
Mr Sanhanga said they had observed with concern how the greenbelt area in the Mutasa region stretching from Toronto to Premier Estate right down to Arda Transau was being underutilised despite having perennial water supplies from the Mutare and Odzi catchment areas.
“This area has a very conducive climate, reliable rain patterns, rivers and dams and well drained soils, excellent infrastructure and good transport networks close to rail and road travel.
“This will be our starting point for the small-holder programme, but we intend to spread throughout the country in all areas where horticulture is commonly practiced,” he said.
He said the agricultural sector was the backbone of the economy growth, but it continued to experience severe systemic challenges within its entire value chain due to lack of financing.
“Ferro Fresh Group will help small-holder farmers to sow, process and market their produce efficiently and effectively. They will no longer worry about marketing and transportation of their produce as there will be a ready market and on top of that, farmers will also get a share of the proceeds from the sale of their produce from their land,” said Mr Sanhanga.
To begin with, the project has earmarked around 1 000 hectares of irrigable land in Mutasa owned by small-scale farmers who benefited from the land reform programme. The land will be divided into blocks.
He said most of the resettled farmers have approximately three hectares of arable land, so for those willing, 2ha would be used on the project, while the remaining hectare would be left for their personal use.
For skills transfer, Mr Sanhanga said at least two members of each household would be employed on the farm and would be paid during the tenure of the programme.
On marketing, Mr Sanhanga said they had already secured a market from local fresh produce companies, hotels and schools and export markets in Europe and the Middle East, which they engaged last year during the annual German Horticulture Trade Show.
Mr Kevin Sanhanga, the technical director of Ferro Fresh Irrigation Systems who was in Brazil last year, said their programme would also introduce the latest mechanisation and irrigation farming technology from Brazil’s Bauer equipment and the introduction of Information Technology software in farming.
“In Brazil last year I learnt about a horticultural software programme made by Embrapa-Brazil, which we have been trained to use.
“The software uses satellite imagery and GPS coordinated real time viewing of fields, soil depth testing, soil types testing, production yield estimates and water supply hydrometer linking.
“This equipment we intend to bring in Zimbabwe once this project gets on track,” said Mr Sanhanga (Jnr).
Mr Sanhanga who is a renowned businessman in Mutare and farmer, said with over 30-years experience in commercial farming, coupled with his vast experience from his tenure as Odzi sub-catchment council chairman (2003) and Save catchment board vice-chairman (2004), he was prepared to boost the countries horticulture industry.
“This is the time that our new farmers should spend more time working on the land and not have to worry about markets and transportation. Most importantly the Ferro Fresh programme will facilitate skills transfer and in the near future allow the small holder farmers to maximize production by themselves,” he said.
The Ferro Fresh Group consists of Ferro Fresh Produce and Ferro Fresh Irrigation Equipment.
Ferro Fresh Irrigation Systems is the sole distributor and service agent in Zimbabwe of IMBIL pumps and Bauer irrigation equipment from Austria and Brazil.
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