by Tapuwa Mashangwa

When people leave Zimbabwe, it does not mean they give up on the country. Finding a career in another country can empower them to contrib­ute to growth back home.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the sub-Saharan agricultural landscape has seen steadily increasing numbers of expatriate agricultural par­ticipants. Although their emigration may be instigated by a myriad of factors, chief among them being low wages, sub-standard living conditions, under­employment, and unpredictable political situations, this has not disheartened them from contributing to their coun­try’s agricultural production systems.

Such is the farming tale of registered nurse and midwife, Janet Phiri, based in Perth, Western Australia. She pro­duces a variety of agricultural produce on her farm in Marondera in Mashona-land East, about 72 km east of Harare.

Regardless of having left Zimbabwe in 2003 for greener pastures, she never forgot her roots and aspirations towards farming. In her youth she gained farming experience tending

 to a piece of family-owned land, pro­ducing maize, chickens, groundnuts, and vegetables mainly for subsistence consumption. This experience, and the profit she made selling vegetables to raise her own money for travelling, convinced her to remain involved in agribusiness.

Zimbabwe’s school curriculum includes agriculture, contributing to Janet’s knowledge.

Her interest in investing in agricul­ture back home was spurred by her desire to contribute to the growth of the economy, especially to alleviate poverty and hunger amongst women. Her hope is that a better tomorrow can be crafted through farming.

In a way farming is an extension of her nursing career where she takes care of humans, to taking care and nurturing crops and animals.

She managed to purchase her land via flexible payment terms through an online real estate agent based in Harare, after travelling to Zimbabwe to assess the authenticity of the agent and the land. Once that was finalised she began self-funding the develop­ment of the farm.

A trait to which she contributes her success is discipline. By saving from her salary and through hard work she has managed to fund her projects. She avoided getting a loan to start farming as she firmly believes in the impor­tance of first garnering enough experi­ence before approaching creditors. Bank funding is also out of the question with the central bank currently calling for a 200% interest rate per annum on Zimbabwean dollar loans.

Expanding on her knowledge, she learns more about modern farming methods using digital sources, mostly YouTube videos, Google, and Whats- App groups. Her market research is frequently executed online, and she would like to do short online courses in the near future.

In Australia she volunteers on farms to gain more knowledge and experi­ence. Sometimes her farm experiences abroad involve farm visits, stays and farm tours.

The role information technology has played in assisting the running of her farm cannot be overemphasised. She employs it for GPS systems, drones for land mapping, farm security, virtual farm inspections, farm management software, to locate livestock, and even to monitor the animals’ health.

One way she ensures success of her projects is through involving experts on the ground. Some of the Zimbabwean agricultural bodies and institutions that have played a role in her farming jour­ney are: ZIMTRADE, which has helped with information pertaining to regional and international market research; The Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU); the Goats and Beef Association, and the Poultry Association, helping especially with marketing.

The unstable Zimbabwean dollar, COVID restricted movement, low numbers of qualified agricultural staff, the lack of infrastructure, and poor market information, are some of the challenges she has encountered at her farm.

She put in consistent effort to re­solve these through employing quali­fied personnel, subscribing to farming associations, remunerating staff on time, providing decent accommodation, and ensuring that everyone (including family) sign work contracts. She re­mains optimistic, knows her team well, and maintains effective and honest communication for better results.

Her strategies have gained her a better professional network, a gist of agricultural productivity, and access to agricultural technology. She employs more women than men, tapping into their maternal instincts to take care of everything on the farm.

Her staff is comprised of a full time resident agronomist, two full time workers and part time workers dur­ing harvesting, land preparation and transplanting, as her farm is not fully mechanised. The farm also has per­manent construction staff and employs casual workers to assist them to make bricks on-site.

In the beginning she struggled with the marketing of her products because her timing was not right, and a poor road network made transport diffi­cult. Now she utilises the established markets provided by contract farming companies such as Irvines chickens and others involved in potato produc­tion and seed growing. They also assist with the transport of goods.

Plans for the farm include increased mechanisation, agribusiness growth, continuing with expert input, improv­ing coordination with her farm team to learn more and keep up with market trends, employing more women, and hopefully constructing her own clinic.

All this she believes will create gen­erational wealth, not only for her, but also for her staff, as well as increased investment towards infrastructure and transport so that pregnant women get access to deliver in a safe environment. This will reduce perinatal and maternal mortality rates in the country.