Feature: Chinese-managed farm brings hope for food security in Zimbabwe

Farm manager Charles Zimora is a very optimistic man.

The optimism stems from his experience at Hunyani Farm just outside Chinhoyi, about 120 km north-west of Harare, where he is witnessing the story of an agricultural revolution taking place - and he is part of the script.

Zimora has seen the farm getting more capitalized and mechanized since 2011 when the Zimbabwe-China Wanjin Agricultural Development Company (Wanjin), began leasing it from the Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT).

He had been part of the CUT farm team prior to being absorbed into the new setup with the Wanjin management not eager to disturb the previous setups on the farms it operates and inheriting the old workforce.

He said he had seen the transformation of Hunyani Farm from being just "an ordinary farm" to a hi-tech one run along business lines.

The 550-hectare Hunyani farm is currently under green mealies, seed maize and potatoes and the maize yield stands at about 6 tons per hectare. It employs 32 local permanent workers and two dozens more temporary farm hands during the harvest season.

Wanjin is a joint venture set up between Anhui State Farms Group and Zimbabwe's Ministry of Defense aiming to improve food security in Zimbabwe.

The idea to form the joint company came after the realization that food security could be enhanced if large swathes of idle land expropriated from former white farmers during the land reforms were put to productive use.

Since the reforms began in 2000, more than 276,000 beneficiaries have been given about 12 million hectares of the farmland previously owned by the white farmers.

However, the reforms did not address the problem of underutilization of land as the majority of the new farmers did not have the necessary skills.

While some of the beneficiaries are genuinely trying to farm, others use the land for weekend sojourns to merry with friends and families and are commonly referred to as cellphone farmers.

Agricultural scientist Sheunesu Mpepereki has attributed Zimbabwe and Africa's inability to ensure food security to poor farming methods and lack of extension services to help the farmers.

The answer might be such a joint ventures. As in Wanjin's case, the Chinese brought in capital, machinery, and farming skills.

Wanjin and its four affiliated businesses invested 15 million U.S. dollars in the past five years to produce maize, potatoes, wheat and soya beans for the local market, according to He Hongshun, Wanjin's general manager.

"Since our establishment, our operations have brought power, water, and jobs to local communities. We are doing all we can to help local farmers and villagers," he said.

Zimora said with maize average yield of 6 tons per hectare, the productivity is good. "Our level of mechanization is very high and we have benefitted from skills transfer as we are taught to repair the tractors, planters, combine harvesters and other equipment," he said.

Precious Moyo, a student at UMAA Institute of Agriculture in Marondera to the south of Harare who has been on attachment at Hunyani Farm for the past six months, describes her experiences there as "cool".

"They are giving us the chance to learn to do things on our own. In the engineering section we are given a chance to fix broken down equipment and this allows us to be self-reliant when we go back to college," she said.

"The farm inspires me because I see it growing and everyone is determined to see it produce more," she added.

Moyo said they were being taught best farming practices in the fields and that she would be able to hold her own after graduating.

Hunyani Farm is just but a model farm, with Wanjin forming joint partnerships with farmers throughout the country to boost production.

So far, there are 10 farms in the venture - from an original two - with total land size exceeding 10,000 ha and employing 832 permanent workers, including 30 Chinese, while hundreds of seasonal workers are also hired for weeding and harvesting.

The company hopes to have acquired 40,000 ha more by 2018, despite the fact that it has only managed to put 4,000 ha under cultivation now largely because of droughts and water problems.

Last season, Wanjin's grain output reached 10,000 tons. It was a decent figure given that the total produce in the country was around 370,000 tons.

Wanjin senior local manager Tichadini Masanganise said despite the huge contribution of maize, the company was not yet satisfied with its production levels.

"You can't talk of sovereignty when you can't feed yourself. We are trying to achieve total household food security," he said.

The country needs 1.4 million tons of maize a year for consumption. The government projected an output of 742,000 tons, but it went down 49 percent during the last season largely because of a prolonged drought.

Weather experts have also forecast a bleak 2015/16 agricultural season with the Southern Africa region receiving normal to below normal rainfall.

The drought is also hurting Wanjin's output as only 30 percent of its farmland is under irrigation. And to the worse, the power shortage, caused by low levels of water at the country's main hydro-electrical station, made the irrigation useless.

He, the Chinese manager, says there are a number of challenges to farming in Zimbabwe. "First, the power supply is in critical shortage; second, the water conservation infrastructure remains poor: third, the fluctuation of grain prices on the local market is quite irregular, hurting the profits of farming enterprises," he said.

The company has also drawn lessons from past droughts and is taking action to mitigate the effects in future.

"We are not just going to be chasing after more land. We are now looking at productivity in terms of improving our farming methods and irrigation facilities. The drought has made us change our mindset," Masanganise said.

He said there is also need for government to subsidize agriculture because the cost of production is very high.

As a result of the high costs of production, the local produce was being sold at a loss as millers compared prices with those from neighboring Zambia where farmers enjoyed government subsidies.

"At the end of the day, we might not get value for our sweat," he said.

Wanjin's management revealed that an agreement had been signed between the partners for the building of a special agricultural trade zone with a view to capturing the whole value chain so that production costs are minimized.

"We want to put together milling plants, tractor assembly plants and chemical suppliers and will look for a company to manufacture fertilizers," Masanganise said. "When we achieve that then I can safely say that Zimbabwe can now feed itself and we can reclaim our 'bread basket of Africa' status." Endit