Mapuranga’s journey of limitless opportunities

fact that success reflects the extent of one’s hunger for success and that nation building needs people of his calibre.
The 28-year-old entrepreneur has a vision that is as inspiring as it is ominously chilling for the uninitiated.
He started from humble beginnings under extremely difficult conditions just after the turn of the last decade, but today runs a fledgling agro-focused enterprise and farming business.
His business empire now comprises a holding company, Platinum Agric, made up of Platinum Chemicals, Platinum Seed and a thriving farming business in Headlands, Manicaland.
It all started in Chitungwiza, where Mr Mapuranga was born raised and attended Dzidzai Primary. He then proceeded to Kutama Mission, Zvimba,  for his secondary education. It was while  there that his entrepreneurship instincts manifested themselves. In partnership with other students, he started a company, grew vegetables and raised chickens for sale at the school. That he has always been intellectually gifted has never been in doubt. Having done well in his Advanced Level studies Mr Mapuranga was lucky to secure two scholarships to study abroad.
Entrepreneurship blood runs in his veins like pebbles on a riverbed, and to pursue his passion for his own businesses he spurned the scholarships to accomplish the unfulfilled mission.
Bearing in mind that education is the key to success, he embarked on and completed a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Entrepreneurship with the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo, through distance education.
As such, Mr Mapuranga followed his heart and sowed his first seeds as a serious budding entrepreneur back in 2002 after finishing high school when he started farming in Mt Hampden. The farm was leased from a business partner’s parents.
The initiative, a partnership with fellow young entrepreneur Mr Tinodiwa Mudzi, did so well that Mr Mapuranga weaned himself to start another journey of limitless opportunities.
But before using the expertise he gained when initiated as a young farmer, Mr Mapuranga cast his net wider to exploit opportunities spawned by the economic problems of the last decade.
Like a man who enjoys going against the tide in a stormy sea, he started Platinum Agric Group that deals in chemicals, potato and vegetable seeds imported from as far as India and China.
Today, the businesses are doing extremely well and on occasions complement financial requirements for the farming activities. The agri-chemicals and seed initiative supplies cotton contractors and similar clients in the tobacco industry.
The young entrepreneur has demonstrated that farming can be successful provided one gets the formula correct. Nonetheless, finance also determines how far and how fast it takes for it to start thriving.
But one will need the heart of a lion, steadfast resolve, clear vision and unflinching passion to engage in commercial farming. “(But) I like going against the tide,” said Mr Mapuranga.
Regardless of the numerous pitfalls on the road to success in commercial farming, Mr Mapuranga has found the matrix to succeed and he says he will keep striving even when things get tough. He now runs an extensive 375-hectare farm, Mhandara, in Headlands where he is into mixed commercial farming and from what is on the ground, the sky is the limit.
The farm has a brooding dairy section, which now holds 65 dairy heifers and the plan is to grow the herd to 100 cows. A piggery unit that is under development is targeting 300 pig cells.
Just this past cropping season Mr Mapuranga planted 30 hectares of potatoes, 60ha of maize and 25ha of soya-beans apart from cauliflower, onions and cabbages.
Some of the land is currently under the winter potato crop. He produces broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and cabbages commercially throughout the year. Further, the young entrepreneur has also included poultry production in his “exciting” mixed farming operations in Headlands and has a total of 4 000 layers, which caters for the community.
“I find it exciting to grow crops and animals. Currently, I am doing well considering the environment we are operating in,” he said.
“(I realised that) there is an over concentration in buying and selling. There are exciting opportunities in agriculture,” said Mr Mapuranga.
He, however, is concerned by limited funding availability due to lack of appreciation by the “younger generation of bank managers”.
“The older generation understands agriculture better,” he said.
Tight liquidity conditions means the funding falls short of the                US$400 000 he requires per-year for working capital or the US$1,2 million he needs to equip the farm and build new infrastructure.
A beneficiary of the land reform programme, Mr Mapuranga wants to see empowerment initiatives cascade down to village level in rural areas and covering mostly young people. His wish for urban youths is for them to get jobs and all the support to start their own businesses. He is also of the view that critical information should be made available to young people as well as transfer of modern technology. His inspiration came from two sets of very important people — his parents and President Mugabe.