Point of convergence: The agriculture consultant and the accountant

ONE of the things I have grown to appreciate, like and enjoy is meeting new people. Every new conversation means new ideas and with each passing day my brain is not the same as it was before. That is the beauty of sharing information and interacting with people. God has blessed us so that we may also be a blessing to those around us. This week I had the God-blessed opportunity to have an eye opening conversation with an accountant who shared with me some every interesting views.

One sincere thought the accountant shared with me is when he said, “My brother, the mistake people make in farming is that they first look for me before they look for you”. What a blunt, bold and true statement. He further went on to say to say that, “My job is to be an accountant, to look for money and save it and ensure that whosoever comes inquiring with me on what they do financially regarding business I have to seriously ensure that they are constantly financially conversant with affairs of their business’.

I realised in that moment that the Zimbabwean farming community lacks the knowledge and art of doing agribusiness. In business what makes a company grow is its ideas; the think-tank behind every new decision and strategy implemented. It is about ideas that consumers and clients are able to identify with cognisant that they exist to benefit them. Don’t we all like to feel special? The same applies with agriculture. Many individuals would rather spend their time and money in talking to an accountant about farming rather than an agricultural consultant. They would rather hear about where the figures are going right or wrong than to hear and learn about what to grow and how to make huge profits from farming. When I have a toothache I go to the dentist! Someone said to me, “the real money is not in town, it is out of town”. And if we are to make an analysis of the most profitable financial businesses and sectors they are not in town. Simply look at the tourism, mining, and agricultural sectors.

Agriculture is a multibillion dollar industry. In a few years agribusinesses will be in the top five of the world’s most valuable global companies. Nigerian billionaire, Mr Aliko Dankote has investments in agriculture. Does that not say something? The top money making individuals in the world spend a lot of time in research. This is because ideas make money and not the other way around. Money does not make money. Knowledge and wisdom are timeless and indestructible assets with infinite use and growth if managed well.

Steve Jobs started with an idea, Bill Gates started with an idea, Mark Zuckerburg started with an idea, Jack Ma started with an idea, the list goes on. Every single successful individual started with an idea and from that idea came investments that propelled them to the next level. Let us look at agricultural projects the same; as agricultural ideas that transform into projects that we can start, manage, reinvest in and grow. With God all things are possible. As I Iike to say, none was born average. We are all exceptional human beings. The accountant should be there to manage the money flowing into the ideas we have, into the projects we establish, the accountant is there to spur us and find money for us to build our agricultural businesses and to posteriorly ensure that we adhere to our financial plans. That is the purpose of their existence and qualifications. To ensure that monetary transactions and movements are optimally performing and managed. When the accountant, agribusiness consultant and the farmer work together, their limit is infinite and the possibilities are endless but we have to take a bold step and be adamant regarding what our objectives are. In our objectives we find our true potential and attain it. Growth is a journey not a destination, a journey God can guide us through each and every step of the way if we let Him. There is so much He wants to share with us.

The writer is Eng. Tapuwa Justice Mashangwa, Founder and CEO of Emerald Agribusiness Consultancy, a subsidiary of Emerald International Consortium, an idea and capital investment management company with various interests where he serves as the Group CEO. He can be contacted on +263 771 641 714 and email: tjmashangwa@gmail. com