A qualified English teacher by profession and now a full-time horticultural farmer LethuMandaza has gracefully taken up the challenge with much success in Bulawayo. We managed to sit down with her for an interview to get details of how she is doing it.

By Emmanuel Dube

ED. Tell us a little bit about yourself, who is Lethu Mandaza

LM. I am a qualified English language online teacher by profession, I was born in Hwange which is where I grew up and I am also a proud mother of one. I used to teach in Cape town South Africa before resigning in 2018 and relocating back to Zimbabwe to try out new business ventures and farming happens to be part of it.

ED. What other business ventures where you involved in when you came back to Zimbabwe?

LM. I was trained in Tapestry and bead work and as a person who is passionate about empowering women, I set out to train other women in this craft. In 2019 we managed to travel across Africa training and empowering women in this craft and I must say the uptake was amazing.

ED. How did you then get into farming?

LM. A friend offered to teach me farming and together we decided to start our venture by growing cabbages on a small piece of land measuring 2.5 acres and its been nonstop since.

ED. Where is your plot located and how big is it?

LM. Our plot is conveniently located approximately 18 km from the city of Bulawayo on your way to Matopo. Currently we are using 3 ha of land for intensive horticulture all under drip irrigation.

ED. Which crops do you grow on your farm?

LM. We grow Okra, sugar beans, straw berries and green mealies which should be ready in a few weeks, you should place your order by the way. We also plan to put in beetroot, carrots etc as we expand our program in the future.

ED. How is the market in Bulawayo for fresh produce?

LM. Because I am into digital marketing it was not that difficult for me to penetrate the market though its not always that easy, I still manage to reach out to many upmarket fruit and vegetable shops in and around Bulawayo.

ED. Earlier you mentioned cabbages how was that venture for you?

LM. Cabbage is a no-go area for me because the first time we grew them it flooded the market, and it was a harsh lesson as we struggled to sell. I strongly encourage a good market research before growing anything.

E.D How lucrative is the fresh produce business in Bulawayo?

LM. I have realised that fresh produce sells like hot cakes every end of the week and most people want fresh vegetables for the weekend and that is when we schedule our harvest and delivery hence I can safely say it is indeed a lucrative business worth getting into.

ED. Horticulture is labour and capital intensive how are you coping?

LM. Honestly  this is one thing that keeps me awake at night however I just have to find a way to make it happen and eventually run a self-sustainable project and with the little we have done so far the returns have shown that it is possible. Skilled labour is a challenge however to bridge that gap I rely on input from professional agronomists who advise my team and I regularly on best agricultural practices and cropping plans.

E.D What are your future in terms of your project.

LM. We plan to put up a green house and set up a large scale nursery for seedlings as we have noticed most farmers in and around Bulawayo have to order seedlings from Harare as there are very few nurseries in Bulawayo, those that are there are overwhelmed.

E.D Wow those are big plans ….

LM. Ohh did I also mention that I have set up a mushroom growing house, I am expecting delivery of the growing kits next week. I realised there is a huge market for these in Bulawayo.

E.D What word of advice do you have for other upcoming farmers especially women in agriculture.

LM. The struggle is real without passion you can easily give up, just make sure when you get into farming give it your all, make it your baby, research as much as you can , start small, grow in it and above all be humble enough to ask for advise and help from those in farming already. I draw a lot of inspiration from Tanaka seedlings in Harare I would like to follow in her footsteps.

ED. How can people get in touch with you?

LM. If anyone wishes to contact me, they can send an email to Lethu42018@gmail.com

E.D – Interviewer   LM – LethuMandaza             

If you would like us to feature your project, please get in touch with us.Emmanuel is a qualified Agronomist and Agribusiness specialist with more than a decade’s experience working in the agri-business industry and development sector. You can contact him on edndsep@gmail.com or WhatsApp on 0783495396

We have developed strong business relationships over the past 5 years with constant business posts, discussions, trainings, book compilations and also various events such as meetings and tours. In the process becoming the biggest online hub of entrepreneurs in the country.

The next strategy is converting the strong business relationships into meaningful business partnerships including raising capital for businesses. Banks are not in a position to avail funding to start-ups without stringent collateral requirements. Donors are also not forthcoming as entrepreneurship support is not a priority. So entrepreneurs are on their own and have to innovate or die.

Our crowdfunding initiatives have been gathering momentum with a few companies formed and others in the pipeline and they include;

• Rabbits International: A company that raised funds to start rabbits rearing
• Agri-volution: A company of 30 shareholders who raised funds to kick start a cattle rearing project.
• Big Ideas Galore: A company formed by members based in South Africa for investment purposes.
• Nutricio: A mealie meal production company formed in September a month later already producing mealie meal for sale. The company raised US$10k
• Borehole Project: A company in the pipeline that seeks to raise US$100k to purchase a drilling rig for members.

A ZBIN Runner Project that seeks to facilitate the imports and exports of goods from Zimbabwe to South Africa is already underway. In Bulawayo a brick moulding project is at feasibility stage.

Our women’s forum has 3 projects of rearing goats, agro processing and microfinance.

Our relationships investment paying dividends as members identify opportunities—pool resources and form companies. Some of the members participating in projects are dotted across the globe such as UK, Dubai, RSA, USA and Zimbabwe. Distance is no longer an issue due to use of digital platforms to conduct meetings.

The good news is the desire to invest in Zimbabwe by our sons and daughters in the diaspora. Of course the challenge is running into dubious schemes where funds can be misused! This is why we have emphasis on transparency and stewardship of resources. Members are involved in company formations, shareholders selections and setting up of organisational systems that protect investments.

It’s still early days but we expect an explosion in crowdfunding next year across the country especially as results start coming up. The risk is some may use crowdfunding to create ponzi schemes!

Financial institutions are also encouraged to do more researches and come up with packages that support crowdfunding just like stokvel packages in South Africa. The risk is always—will forex banked locally not be converted to other currencies?