‘ZIM CAN RECLAIM BREADBASKET STATUS’
HARARE-BASED entrepreneur Tapiwa Mugabe says Zimbabwe is slowly reclaiming its breadbasket status through agricultural investments locally and beyond.
Born and bred on a farm in Trelawney, Mugabe pursued a farming career where he enrolled at Chibero Agricultural College.
“Zimbabwe is on its way up again to reclaiming the breadbasket status for Southern Africa and beyond.
“A lot of investment is currently going into farming and the opportunities are so numerous for the country to bounce back and reclaim its title.
“The country enjoys a lot of favourable or competitive advantages inasmuch as agricultural production is concerned which propels it to bounce back as a breadbasket to the world,” he said.
“After graduating, I was employed in a number of farming-related organisations before taking up farming as a career.
“Throughout my farming experiences, I realised how important it is to control the parameters of the production process since farming is marred with so much risk and uncertainty.
“This is what gave birth to Total Farm Solutions — an organisation principled on the mission to empower people to enhance their productivity one hectare at a time.
“Total Farm Solutions was born in 2006 and through the years it has grown to be a household name in as much as greenhouse farming and drip irrigation is concerned.
“The organisation’s mandate is to reduce the risk and increase the productivity and profitability of every farmer.
“We work with the whole range of farmers spanning from backyard farmers to large scale commercial farmers.
“We work with any farmer wishing to increase their yield and increase the profitability of their business,” he said.
He said their agenda is empowerment across all levels of the farming community.
“Total Farm Solutions is principled on Transfer of Technology (TOT) to both upcoming and seasoned farmers.
“Upcoming farmers are hand-held during their first seasons of production through an army of qualified agronomists so that the risk of failure is minimised as much as possible.
“Our research team is dedicated to supporting all levels of “Total Farmers” as we call them, to continuously improve their farming business venture,” he added.
The farmer hinted on effects of climate change.
“Our greenhouse and horticultural projects are a solution to address climate change challenges.
“The idea in farming is to gain control in the riskiest parameters that affect crop production and amongst the top factors are weather agents. Weather plays an important role in crop production but when the climate shifts, crop production is also affected against the rising global population.
“Greenhouses and water conservation techniques are the future of food supply,” said Mugabe.
According to Mugabe Zimbabwean farmers face some challenges.
“One of the major challenges faced by farmers is securing marketing contracts. Most buyers or off takers are opportunists, making it difficult for farmers to plan consistently.
“The other challenge is most aspiring farmers have little access to credit. Financial institutions need to warm up to financing greenhouse farming since the risk or production is minimised.
“As an entrepreneur challenges are what you wake up to solve every single day, moreover if you are in Zimbabwe.
“We have however, built a resilience mechanism where we see challenges differently now. We see them as opportunities for us to improve and develop more,” he added.
Mugabe urged young farmers to start greenhouse farming.
“I would like to advise new and upcoming farmers to start taking greenhouse farming seriously and as a business. I have often referred to our greenhouses as factories of production. When you build a greenhouse, you are a factory owner producing food for your market.”