The ManicaPost
VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwenga was at Mubvakacha Farm in Headlands last Friday to assess progress on the 2020 winter wheat programme. Our Senior Reporter, Samuel Kadungure (SK) caught up with the host farmer, Dr James Tsanzirai Chipunza, to find out more on his operations and how the country can reclaim its status as the breadbasket of Africa. Below are excerpts from the interview.
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SK: Who is Dr Chipunza?
JTC: I am the owner of Mubvakacha Farm, which is in Headlands and was picked to host the field day since they needed someone who literally started from zero. They wanted someone who could share their experience and inspire others. When we came here, there was nothing, no compound, buildings or irrigation equipment. Away from these fields, I am a veterinary doctor and a holder of a MSc in Animal Science as well as an MBA. I am married to Chipo Chipunza and we are blessed with a son, Hillary Ngaakudzwe, who is a software engineer.
SK: What motivated you to leave your job and take up farming full time? When where you allocated this farm?
JTC: I was allocated this farm around 2007 and moved here in 2008. Apart from passion, the other issue that gave me the impetus to come here is that my great, great grandfather was a chief here. My parents were born here and our dynasty was evicted between 1910 and 1930.
So I made it a point that I must come back and do my best while reviving our chieftaincy.
When we moved in, it was a forest with dilapidated packing shed. This is 400 hectares, but at best we can utilise 100ha.
The rest is mush land that cannot be used for anything. We had the passion and started small with one hectare of tobacco. We grew gradually to three hectares, then seven, 10ha, 15ha, 20ha and now 60ha with potential to do 80ha.
We grappled with limited resources, borrowing here and there. We got a loan from a bank and we have been consistently paying our debts every season. We then joined China Tobacco and made sure each season we serviced our debts. Since the farm had no source of water, we had to invest extensively into irrigation.
We borrowed money to construct a three and half kilometres pipeline from the nearby dam where we draw water and store it in an overnight dam before irrigating our crops. We now have four centre pivots with potential to irrigate 130ha.
SK: Looking back, do you have any regrets on your decision to quit your formal job to take up farming?
JTC: No regrets at all. In fact, it was a wise move, belated though. We should have moved in earlier when we still had more energy. I encourage everyone to make their decisions and follow them through. Farming has huge potential, it does not discriminate. If you work hard on the land, you will reap the benefits.
SK: So far, how much have you invested into your farming business?
JTC: Over the years we have invested over US$3m.
SK: What do you produce?
JTC: We are doing wheat, with potential to do about between 60 and 80ha, but because of the limited land size, we have scaled it down to 43ha. We are doing about 49ha of maize, and this allows us to rotate between tobacco, wheat and maize. We also have a 20ha gum tree woodlot. I have a herd of about 100 cattle and because of the limited carrying capacity, I cannot go beyond that.
SK: How do you see yourself in the next five years, in terms of agricultural operations and productivity at this farm?
JTC: We have the potential to do more, but obviously we are limited by the land size now. But there are numerous opportunities in agriculture and I have two things I would need to do — to increase the hectarage on the three crops we are growing (tobacco, wheat and maize) and diversify into dairy so that I have a diversified portfolio of income.
SK: What are the challenges you and other farmers are facing in this area and what would you recommend as a lasting solution to them?
JTC: The biggest challenge is labour. We fight for the limited labour because people do not have confidence in working for A2 farmers. We would be better off with 100 percent retention of the forex component from tobacco sales.
Second, we have water challenges. We have no dams and those drawing irrigating water from the one available source need to manage the water properly. We need to do more to harness water as we work towards attaining Vision 2030.
On the third issue, Government must distribute production inputs on time so that we do early land preparation and early planting. Then electricity must be always available.
Zesa needs to put farmers in clusters. Those in Headlands must be put on one grid. But theft and vandalism of electricity and irrigation infrastructure is rampant, we need everyone’s co-operation to put a stop to this.
SK: Earlier on, you claimed that you started from scratch, and that your farming prowess has caught the eye of Government officials such that Vice-President Chiwenga, who is in charge of the food security and nutrition committee, has graced this field day. What is the secret to your success?
JTC: l have stayed focused and have made a conscious resolution with my family to invest money into this project. Everyone in the family puts their undivided attention on the farm.
We are ploughing our money into the farm so we do not want to see it failing. We decided to leave our jobs to be on the farm full time and I think that was one of the best decisions leading to our success. Second, we always strive to pay back our debts. Farmers must always repay the loans they get.
SK: Some farmers are failing to honour the objective of the land reform programme, blaming this on lack of agricultural funding, do you share such sentiments? If not, why are some farmers struggling to access the funding?
JTC: Most farmers — not all of us — are not honest. Through the Command Agriculture, for example, Government is funding you to operate without collateral. You are asked how much you require and you are given the inputs, but people then decide not to invest in the land and divert the inputs for other purposes.
From that perspective, you cannot say we are not getting financial support because with inputs and good rains, you should be able to produce and repay the loan.
My fellow countrymen are failing in terms of fully utilising Government resources and repaying the money. When I came here, I had three cattle and an ox-drawn chart, but we worked it out. It was the fighting spirit in the dog, not the size of the dog.
SK: What tangible investments have you made using proceeds from farming?
JTC: My philosophy is when you inject into a project, it must utilise its profits. If the business starts making profits, the onus is not on its founders or directors to take that money.
The money must be ploughed back into the business and that is what we have done here, every bit of profit was invested back into the farm.
This farm is literally under irrigation, we can do up to 130ha. We have five tractors, which are adequate. We have built a 37ha tunnel and we have three tobacco grading sheds.
We have also established a decent compound for the 120 employees on the farm. We also have adequate implements that come with the tractors, ridgers, ploughs, harrows, planters.
We have invested all the profits on to the farm to ensure that going forward we will not need to borrow. Going forward, we will now look at technology to ensure efficiency and improve productivity.
SK: As a seasoned animal health expert, what sort of advice can you give to farmers in Manicaland? Some have lost their cattle to the January disease and other animal diseases.
JTC: Theileriosis is a tick-borne disease and the only solution is to regularly dip or spray the cattle with acaricides. Government had done a good job by constructing dip tanks all over, but I know there is a challenge with regards to the chemicals that are supposed to be used to control the ticks and tick-borne diseases.
Farmers must understand that these are their cattle, they must take the initiative to protect their animals.
They must collectively buy dipping chemicals and make sure that they religiously dip or spray their animals, depending on the season. They must also adhere to advice from veterinarians, particularly on animal movements.
SK: But why have dipping chemicals remained a challenge for so long?
JTC: We do not manufacture veterinary chemicals in Zimbabwe, we import them. It is either we export more and generate more foreign currency to import the veterinary chemicals or we manufacture these chemicals in Zimbabwe. Obviously that will need a lot of capital injection but it will be worth it. For the short-term, we will have to continue importing while looking for long-term manufacturing possibilities.
SK: Is there anything else you would want to share with the readers?
JTC: To be successful in farming, one needs to stay on the farm. Farmers must not double dip, you cannot be at work and be a farmer at the same time. Then l need to reiterate the importance of farmers religiously servicing their debts.
On the issue of joint ventures, Government needs to look into that. Joint ventures need fine-tuning because they are promoting speculative behaviour.
There are people who got land for speculative purposes, they are just getting paid without injecting a cent on those farms. If a person gets into a joint venture, Government must get a certain percentage of the proceeds. Non-performing farmers must not be pocketing everything.
Those in joint ventures are not serious farmers, yet we have people with potential who are looking for land. Those farms must be targeted for redistribution because we have people with capacity who do not have access to the land. The motivation should not be easy money, but ensuring the country’s food security. Most importantly, the land reform was a very good initiative, but my greatest fear is that our farmers do not have succession plans. We need young people who follow after their parents, and eventually take over.
I propose a “godfather concept”, where those leasing farms will manage the business together with a participant from the family so that he or she acquires hands-on training and experience over a certain period of time, with a view to independently run the farm.
