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Midlands Bureau Chief
FOUR siblings from Gweru in the Midlands province are basking in the glory of their thriving seedlings production story, which started when a local supplier delivered onions and spinach seedlings of poor quality.
Not amused by the product, the four siblings mooted the idea of starting their own nursery in June 2021 by utilising their parents’ plot in Ridgemont suburb in Gweru
Today, they are proud owners of Freshgroup, a company that specialises in seedlings production and employs 10 people. The company produces over a million seedlings of onions, cabbage, spinach, beetroot, onions, green peppers, cauliflower and broccoli per month and supplies schools, churches and individual farmers. One of the company directors, Ms Tarisai Chipamaunga (44) said they developed a passion for farming at a young age, drawing inspiration from their parents.
She said they grew up in Ridgemont where their parents practised subsistence farming on their plot.
Narrating how they started commercial farming business, Ms Chipamaunga said: “Some time back in 2021, we ordered seedlings from a Harare company and what was delivered was of poor quality and most of them died. We then sat down with my three siblings and came up with the idea of creating a nursery where we could nurture our own seedlings.”
Ms Chipamaunga said they then invested in five greenhouses and drip irrigation equipment to kick-start the project at their parents’ plot.
“We then transformed our parents’ backyard space into a nursery. We can safely say we are proud of what we have done in under two years,” she said.
Ms Chipamaunga said after constructing a greenhouse they bought the first seed for nurturing from another company in Harare.
“We wanted quality products and started making these seedlings. We then realised that the Gweru market was even starved of quality seedlings due to the demand for the product,” she said.
Ms Chipamaunga said their faming business continues to grow in leaps and bounds. She said their vision is to construct more greenhouses and supply the whole of the country.
At the moment, the company is servicing local markets, but has set its sights on exports.
“We have partnered with seed providers such as Syngenta and farmers can also come to our plot to observe the quality of crops that we nurture from our seedlings. At the moment we are supplying farmers in Gweru, Kwekwe, Bulawayo, Gokwe, and Zvishavane,” she said.
“We want to consolidate the market and maintain our brand as suppliers of good and quality seedlings. Our vision is export, but we have just started and are still setting up so that we meet international standards.”
Ms Chipamaunga said this year, they are planning to sell more than 2 million onions seedlings alone between April and May.
“Cabbage is also in demand and we expect to sell about 400 000 cabbages in April and May. Summer crops, which include tomatoes, pepper, broccoli and cauliflower are usually sold from July to January,” she said. Ms Chipamaunga said she is also into marketing while her siblings are all medical doctors.
“We are all professionals, but we see value in land and that is why we are investing in this project. Ultimately, our target and vision is to be a household name both locally and regionally when it comes to quality seedlings and crop production,” she said.
“A high-grade seedling has high returns which is what the farmers want, and that is what we are giving them.”
Through their farming project, Ms Chipamaunga said they are also building a legacy for their children.
“We are creating generational wealth. When our children grow up, through this project, they will have a fallback plan,” she said.
She said they are also engaging students on attachment from agricultural colleges so as a way of giving back to the community.
The company administrator Ms Tariro Nyamadzawo, a holder of a degree in agribusiness management, said last year they sold a million seedlings of onions only.
“We also managed to sell over 200 000 seedlings of cabbage, spinach, beetroot, and green peppers to farmers. This year, our target is to sell over two million of each plant as we intend to construct more greenhouses,” she said.
Ms Nyamadzawo said there is a very high demand for seedlings, particularly horticulture crops.
“Horticulture is a hotbed for most of the agro-based endeavours as this presents a very lucrative business of growing, nurturing and selling seedlings,” she said.
Through farming, the Chipamaunga siblings hope to contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth.
Zimbabwe is an agrarian economy with most of the country’s sectors being directly and indirectly linked to the agricultural sub-sector.
Government is targeting transformation of rural and urban economies through enhancement of food, nutrition, markets, and jobs using value chains, including the horticulture sector, as a means of achieving a prosperous, inclusive, diverse, sustainable and competitive agriculture sector.
Zimbabwe envisages to be an upper-middle-income economy by 2030 and agriculture is critical in the attainment of that vision, with the sector targeting to become an US$8,2 billion economy by 2025.
The Horticulture Recovery Plan, which was launched in 2020 by President Mnangagwa, is part of Government initiatives under Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy (2020-2025) to transform agriculture from a US$5,2 billion to a US$8,2 billion sector, contributing 20 percent of GDP by 2025 in line with the vision of making Zimbabwe an upper middle-income economy.
Online Reporter