Agrinews December 2012 - Ministry of Agriculture

Gabriel Musindi Finds SolacArticle & Photos: France BegenselMany young men his ageleave the countryside/villages with the hopeof finding a well paying job inurban areas. Many fall victimto the township circumstances,with some resorting to crime tomake a living. Some of themdo not endure a day beforeretracing their footsteps to thevillage.Some young men also believein getting employment andgetting paid at the end of themonth. They do not want tofall into the uncertainitiesof agriculture, where if itsvegetables, one has to relyon income generated fromvegetables, that do not even getenough water ,from the alreadyscarce commodity. “They say itis a risk not to take,says GabrielMusindi, 27, of Lesoma inChobe East. He quotes from asource he can not even identify.To escape the doldrums ofpoverty and unemployment, Musindi decided to go thevegetable way. He says that hefound it hard working for AkunaMathata safaris, disclosing thatwith the meagre wages he got,he could not sustain himselfand his family. He says thathaving worked for six monthsfor the safari company, he quitin 2010 to do a business of hisown, where he is his own boss.Besides lack of jobs, Musindiexplored the need of his villageLesoma, and realised there wasshortage of relish especiallyvegetables. He saw potentialin this and decided to makea living out of it. He revealsthat sometimes, people had totravel all the way to Kasane andKazungula to buy vegetablesand that he did not want moneyfrom his village transfered.Musindi says that since hestarted production in 2010, henever looked back. And hasrealised a lot of profit especiallyin his first year of production. HeDecember ODeceOctoberber2012121126