Agriseed sows seeds for development
Beatrice Mapuranga of Nyanzira village has shrugged off the “simple village woman” tag and has reinvented herself into an enterprising farming entrepreneur.
She has flourishing fields of cowpeas, maize, sorghum and groundnuts for her family’s consumption and for sale.
Although she got a meagre $371 loan as well as fertilisers and chemicals through the Agriseed outgrower scheme, she’s on her way to recording significant profits.
“I have so far harvested 10 bags of sorghum and I’m still to complete the harvesting,” she said.
“But I’m still to start harvesting the groundnuts, which will earn me extra profit.”
The 10 bags, 50kg each, translate to half a tonne. A tonne fetches $700, which means that she has already recouped the amount of the loan even before harvesting the other crops.
In order to turn their agricultural activities into a viable business, Mapuranga and other villagers were enrolled for a course in record-
keeping and business training so that they do farming as a business.
“Maize is the only crop that we grow for consumption,” said Mapuranga. “All the other crops are cash crops.”
The business, she said, has also been made much easier because as part of the outgrower scheme, Agriseed bought the harvested crop at commercial rates as per the scheme’s terms.
According to Walter Chigodora from Agriseed, in the commercial sector it was difficult to produce seed crops, which was why they decided to work with smallholder farmers
“During the first year, it was not easy, however,” he said. “But in this second year, the farmers have promised to honour their loans.”
Under the scheme, Agriseed started off with an initial number of 2 200 farmers, which they later reduced to 1 145 as they wanted to work with farmers who had proved themselves capable.
Although they reduced the number, they increased each farmer’s hectarage.
Chigodora added that their desire was to help the farmers who had proved their mettle through high productivity so that they could develop into commercial farmers.
The farmers were also assisted by SNV-Zimbabwe, a non-governmental organisation which provides capacity building training.
Tadius Nyamayevhu, an agronomist with Agriseed, said they had a binding agreement with contracted farmers on the pricing of the crops ahead of the planting season.
“We agree with the farmers on the pricing before we go into the programme, that is, prior to the planting season,” Nyamayevhu said, adding that they also held post-season meetings with the farmers to discuss issues pertaining to that season.
While Mapuranga admitted that the price at which Agriseed bought the seed from the farmers was fair, she said that money was never enough.
She added that the advantage they had was that after harvest, they were guaranteed of sales.
The 11 families under the programme in the area use between three and five hectares of land each.
While under the programme each family was obliged to use one hectare, those with the capacity to expand were free to do so.
Mapuranga said she was considering extending her fields as she has extra land, which she said belonged to her son who was now based in Mozambique.
Nyamayevhu said the programme was more biased towards women as they were less mobile than men, most of whom spent a lot of time away from home as they would be working in towns.
She said while they would prefer a male-to-female ratio of 50:50, it was impossible in some instances due to circumstances beyond their control.
Mapuranga said their arrangement with Agriseed came in handy as they were not able to go it alone.
She said prior to this deal, they only grew maize and groundnuts which they sold to the Grain Marketing Board, whose payment system was often erratic and unreliable.
Mapuranga was able to buy cattle and pay fees for her children from the profits she made after last year’s harvest.
Another beneficiary of the programme, Janet Vandiforo, said she was able to buy her own inputs and because of the extra effort she made in her field, she was expecting get over $700 per tonne from her current crop.
“I was able to raise money to pay school fees for my children and I reinvested some of the money into the project so I am expecting greater profits,” she said.
Chigodora said they worked hand-in-glove with extension officers and government inspectors came to check and endorse the seed before it could be released onto the market.
“This is very necessary,” he said. “All checks are done, so it is certified seed.”
Although she got a meagre $371 loan as well as fertilisers and chemicals through the Agriseed outgrower scheme, she’s on her way to recording significant profits.
“I have so far harvested 10 bags of sorghum and I’m still to complete the harvesting,” she said.
“But I’m still to start harvesting the groundnuts, which will earn me extra profit.”
The 10 bags, 50kg each, translate to half a tonne. A tonne fetches $700, which means that she has already recouped the amount of the loan even before harvesting the other crops.
In order to turn their agricultural activities into a viable business, Mapuranga and other villagers were enrolled for a course in record-
keeping and business training so that they do farming as a business.
“Maize is the only crop that we grow for consumption,” said Mapuranga. “All the other crops are cash crops.”
The business, she said, has also been made much easier because as part of the outgrower scheme, Agriseed bought the harvested crop at commercial rates as per the scheme’s terms.
According to Walter Chigodora from Agriseed, in the commercial sector it was difficult to produce seed crops, which was why they decided to work with smallholder farmers
“During the first year, it was not easy, however,” he said. “But in this second year, the farmers have promised to honour their loans.”
Under the scheme, Agriseed started off with an initial number of 2 200 farmers, which they later reduced to 1 145 as they wanted to work with farmers who had proved themselves capable.
Although they reduced the number, they increased each farmer’s hectarage.
Chigodora added that their desire was to help the farmers who had proved their mettle through high productivity so that they could develop into commercial farmers.
The farmers were also assisted by SNV-Zimbabwe, a non-governmental organisation which provides capacity building training.
Tadius Nyamayevhu, an agronomist with Agriseed, said they had a binding agreement with contracted farmers on the pricing of the crops ahead of the planting season.
“We agree with the farmers on the pricing before we go into the programme, that is, prior to the planting season,” Nyamayevhu said, adding that they also held post-season meetings with the farmers to discuss issues pertaining to that season.
While Mapuranga admitted that the price at which Agriseed bought the seed from the farmers was fair, she said that money was never enough.
She added that the advantage they had was that after harvest, they were guaranteed of sales.
The 11 families under the programme in the area use between three and five hectares of land each.
While under the programme each family was obliged to use one hectare, those with the capacity to expand were free to do so.
Mapuranga said she was considering extending her fields as she has extra land, which she said belonged to her son who was now based in Mozambique.
Nyamayevhu said the programme was more biased towards women as they were less mobile than men, most of whom spent a lot of time away from home as they would be working in towns.
She said while they would prefer a male-to-female ratio of 50:50, it was impossible in some instances due to circumstances beyond their control.
Mapuranga said their arrangement with Agriseed came in handy as they were not able to go it alone.
She said prior to this deal, they only grew maize and groundnuts which they sold to the Grain Marketing Board, whose payment system was often erratic and unreliable.
Mapuranga was able to buy cattle and pay fees for her children from the profits she made after last year’s harvest.
Another beneficiary of the programme, Janet Vandiforo, said she was able to buy her own inputs and because of the extra effort she made in her field, she was expecting get over $700 per tonne from her current crop.
“I was able to raise money to pay school fees for my children and I reinvested some of the money into the project so I am expecting greater profits,” she said.
Chigodora said they worked hand-in-glove with extension officers and government inspectors came to check and endorse the seed before it could be released onto the market.
“This is very necessary,” he said. “All checks are done, so it is certified seed.”
