inBUSINESS Issue 14

AGRICULTURE
moisture. Over the last few years it has broken
down and improved the humus content and
fertility of our sandveld plot.
Harvest time is always exciting! We had
some theft – sadly a common problem in our
nation. As the day progressed though, more
and more full bags of grain came off the land
and the theft didn’t seem to have dented the
harvest too much. When we came to do the
weighing, we realised we had harvested at a
yield of 6.5 tons a hectare!
Conservation Agriculture
Initiative in Zimbabwe
This is a life-giving harvest that can break Africa’s dependency
syndrome at almost zero cost to famers. The revolutionary business
model uses no costly oxen, no tractors from overseas, no diesel
from the Gulf, no ploughs from some factory, no irrigation scheme
from Israel, no hybrid seed from a commercial seed company,
no fertiliser from a manure manufacturer, and no chemicals from
some hyped organic outfit
Harvest is such a joyful time in
a rural community, especially
when the harvest is good. Three
years ago, I visited the United
States and brought back to
Zimbabwe five precious cobs of
open-pollinated maize seed from an Amish
farming family in Pennsylvania. This seed had
been in the family for generations and was a
truly remarkable gift.
With it, using very simple, God-inspired
Foundations for Farming methods that
replicate the principles of the Amish farmers,
we have been growing a small demonstration
plot at the Ameva Bible School in Chegutu
each year. Every summer we plant the seed,
nurture it and then reap it - and we keep the
best cobs to plant again.
During recent years, we have had very dry
seasons where all of the maize around the
demonstration plot has died and our maize crop
has been the only one that could be harvested
in the entire area. The reason for our success is
that we have been practicing Foundations for
Farming conservation agriculture principles
faithfully. And they work!
This year we had a very wet season. Farmers
know that growing maize on sandveld soils in
a wet season is difficult because the fertiliser
leaches out, the maize turns yellow and growth
is stunted. Most of the subsistence farmers in
the small-scale sector do not fertilise properly
and so their yields are abysmal.
We have been growing our maize with zero
basal fertiliser – so I was worried about what
would happen this season. When we set up
our Ameva demonstration plot, it was the first
time I had planted maize in sandveld soil.
During the winter, instead of buying
chemical fertiliser, we have been making
compost out of dry grass and other organic
matter from the surrounding bush. This is
applied in each carefully placed planting hole
before planting. We also have a rotation with
cowpeas which fix nitrogen in the soil for the
next year’s maize crop. Then of course there is
the mulch that is left on the surface each year to
protect the soil from erosion and conserve the
Just a hoe
So let’s get this clear: here is a farming business
model that uses no costly oxen, no tractors
from overseas, no diesel from the Gulf, no
ploughs from the factory, no irrigation schemes
from Israel, no hybrid seed from a commercial
seed company, no compound fertiliser from
a fertiliser factory and no chemicals from a
chemical manufacturer. The only thing we
did buy was a little ammonium nitrate (a highnitrogen
fertiliser) which we applied at 10
grams per plant station before tasseling; and of
course the bags for the harvested maize. The
only implement we bought three years ago was
a badza (hoe).
Business school teaches that business
is about making a profit. Business school
dictates that without profit, businesses go
down the tubes. Profit is very simple. It’s all
about whether the revenue is greater than the
costs. If the costs are bigger than the revenue,
then the business is running at a loss and
will collapse. Business school logic says that
there are only two ways to make a business
profitable: either you reduce costs - or you
increase revenues.
Foundations for Farming has taught us that
if farming costs for the poor are to be reduced
to almost zero, and revenues are to still remain
substantial, we need to:
1. Use open-pollinated seed that can be
kept from one year to the next;
2. Use homemade compost to fertilise the
crop;
3. Use mulch to retain moisture;
4. Use the no-till conservation agriculture
method, i.e. we do not plough but just
make carefully measured planting
holes with a hoe.
These four points equal efficiency. The only
real cost is the labour – much of which would
be needed in more conventional farming
anyway. On small plots, the labour is all
provided by the family. Efficiency for the poor
is where costs are brought to almost zero.
Apart from efficiency, Foundations
for Farming teaches two other principles
absolutely central to growing things well: doing
all farming operations excellently and then
doing them all on time. In countries with high
unemployment and largely poor populations,
farming with Foundation for Farming
principles makes absolute sense because
the costs are almost zero, and excellence
and timing make for good revenues. This is
especially important in Zimbabwe where there
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www.inbusiness.co.bw | Issue 14 | 2017