adminTapuwa Justice Mashangwa Agriculture Column
IN the face of adversity and challenges the best humans can do is to keep steadfast, be proactive and progressive. When one loses their job, their self-preservation is threatened as one knows that some of their basic needs — food, water, shelter and clothing — might not be adequately met. However, despite the gravity of this possibility there is a sector that has been in existence for over 11,500 years that one can turn to — agriculture. This suggestion may seem insufficient or trivial but it is a way forward. Some months ago I wrote an article titled “50 untapped agric opportunities in Zim” in which I cited the various agricultural projects farmers or potential farmers could consider for diversification purposes.
Most of them generate good money and a stable income.
A common error is that people believe participation in agriculture requires vast land space, huge amounts of capital and most believe that it is complicated.
It does not. A chicken requires an area of 0.15 m2 and point of lay birds can be bought at $10 each.
Mushrooms can be grown in a space of 32m3 with spawn costing $4. Six hundred fish can be bred in a pond or tank with a surface area of 200m2 and fingerlings cost about $10 per kilogram. Vegetables can be grown in the veranda, on rooftops and along durawalls or stand walls.
Some entrepreneurs purchase fish (kapenta) from Binga for resale in various towns and cities. The options are endless and these mentioned are just but a minute fraction of what is totally available.
Nothing in this lifetime is difficult or impossible. Everything starts in the mind and once one continuously feeds the mind this fact it all becomes clear.
Farming generally comprises of a series of steps and requisites to be adhered to. That is all there is to it with of course the need for regulation, maintenance and improvement.
A project can not only cater for the food requirements for one’s family, if there is extra produce it can be sold thus creating extra money for the family or household, facts most people do not consider. Existence or financial provision is not about high income.
It is about minimum income utilised efficiently and effectively.
Another point to note is that farming or agricultural projects do not have to be a solely done. Groups can be formed to assist one another in terms of knowledge and equipment sharing, collective bulk purchases can be made to reduce costs and collective marketing done too to such an extent that a well-focused group can control market prices or the provision of an agricultural commodity.
What ever happened to barter trade? Our economy’s worsening liquidity crunch will make barter trade for the provision of goods and services plausible and functional.
The unavailability of hard cash does not mean that business transactions are impossible. Barter trade may be actually progressive and functional as long as provider and buyer are in mutual agreement. Its implementation would be a positive move.
One of the most fascinating agricultural concepts I became acquainted with during my studies in Cuba is what they call in Spanish, organoponicos. Organoponicos are a system of urban organic gardens that often consist of low-level concrete walls filled with organic matter and soil, with lines of drip irrigation laid on the surface of the growing media.
Organopónicos are a labour-intensive form of agriculture.
Organoponicos can be applied on building sites, vacant lots and roadsides, and arranged in terraces on sloping land. Soil can be tailored, using specific mixtures, to specific crops. If the soil is affected by nematodes or fungi, the entire substrate can be replaced. If necessary, the gardens can be disassembled and relocated.
With drip irrigation, regular addition of compost and good horticultural practices – such as the use of well-adapted varieties, mixed cropping, crop rotation and integrated pest management – the raised beds can produce vegetables all year round, and achieve yields of up to 20kg per square metre.
Organoponicos can serve as an option for collective farming, for those that fear working alone and have a market identified for the agricultural product.
And not only is this option for collective farming of plants but it works as well for animals and can permit and promote high output production levels. The future is bright and the future is green.
The writer is Engineer Tapuwa Justice Mashangwa, a young entrepreneur based in Bulawayo, Founder and CEO of Emerald Agribusiness Consultancy. He can be contacted on +263 739 096 418 and
email: [email protected]
Online Reporter