Blessing Chizhande
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
HAPPINESS Dube is only 25 years old, but she is already carrying a family legacy that began long before she could imagine running a farming business of her own.
Growing up in Matobo District, Dube learnt early that the family’s fields were more than a source of food — they were a business, a livelihood and a pathway to a better life.
Today, she is passing that lesson on to her younger brothers while building an agricultural enterprise that has seen her exhibit at the Matabeleland South Agricultural Show and the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF).
Dube is among the young farmers showcasing their work at the 68th edition of the annual Matabeleland South Agricultural Show.
She first participated in the show at the age of 17 and has since won several prizes, gaining exposure that she says has helped her farming enterprise grow.
This year, she is exhibiting alongside her two brothers, aged 19 and 20, with the siblings also running a threshing-machine hire business in their community.
Dube says farming is not a new career choice, but a family tradition she inherited from parents who turned agriculture into a business and used its proceeds to raise and educate their children.
“My parents introduced my siblings and me to farming. Growing up, we always knew that what we ate, the money that paid school fees for us, the clothes we wore and everything that we needed was catered for through money that we got from farming,” she said.
Dube said her parents were never formally employed.
“We used to farm and get tonnes of produce and vehicles would come to collect. We have a group with my siblings and we are also exhibiting some of our products that we are making collectively,” she said.
Dube says the lessons from her parents have remained with her even after establishing her own homestead.
“Farming is a tradition that our parents passed on to us and we will also pass it on to our children so that they can pass it on to their children,” she said.
In a district where rainfall can be unreliable, the family has learnt to work with the environment rather than against it.
Instead of relying heavily on water-intensive crops such as maize, the siblings concentrate on small grains including nyawuthi, sorghum and rapoko, which are better suited to the dry conditions in Matobo.
“In Matobo we mainly produce small grains because our area receives low rainfall as we are in Region 5. We produce nyawuthi, amabele and rapoko. We rarely produce crops that require a lot of water such as maize as they are not ideal for this,” she said.
“This has worked for us and we have never had a season where we fail to harvest despite how low the rains may be.”
Small grains, however, come with their own challenges, particularly during threshing.
Dube said many farmers shy away from the crops because of the labour involved, but her family found a way of turning that challenge into an opportunity.
In 2017, the family won a threshing machine after coming first in a ward agricultural competition.
The machine eased the burden of processing their harvest and has since become another source of income, with Dube’s younger brothers hiring it out to other farmers in the community.
For 19-year-old Khulisani Dube, the experience has shown him that agriculture can give young people a productive alternative to idleness.
“I have come to learn that farming is one way in which, as a young person, I can become productive and not just remain idle,” he said.
“As young people, if we are idle, we become susceptible to risks such as drug and substance abuse. For us, the rural folk, the land is already there and therefore we can make something out of our lives.”
Dube says agricultural exhibitions have played an important role in opening her eyes to opportunities beyond the family fields.
Through participating in the Matabeleland South Agricultural Show, ZITF and other agricultural expos, she has interacted with fellow farmers, learnt new techniques and gained ideas that have helped her improve her enterprise.
Matabeleland South Agricultural Show Society president Ms Sheron Dewa, said the growing participation of young farmers is an encouraging sign for the future of the province’s agricultural sector.
She said the show provides young farmers with an opportunity to showcase their products, build networks and explore opportunities for growing their businesses.
A category for the best-performing young farmer has also been introduced to encourage young people to participate in agriculture.
“The show also gives an opportunity for farmers from the province to exhibit their products. Our theme is ‘Unlocking New Opportunities through Collaboration,’ and we also want to see young farmers leveraging on the opportunities of unlocking sustainable markets and establishing partnerships to facilitate growth and expansion of their businesses,” said Ms Dewa.
“Agriculture is one of the main drivers of the Matabeleland South provincial economy and we want to see young people taking the lead in developing the sector to boost the economy.”
The provincial show has brought together crop and livestock farmers, Government departments, parastatals, seed companies, non-governmental organisations, uniformed forces and businesses.
It follows a series of ward, zone, cluster and district agricultural expos, shows and seed fairs held across the province, with the grassroots exhibitions serving as a feeder system for the provincial event.
The decentralisation of agricultural exhibitions is part of efforts to ensure farmers at community level embrace innovation, technology, value addition and improved farming practices.
Online Reporter