The Sunday News
Walter Mswazie
AFTER braving and successfully withstanding the vagaries of a protracted war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Adson Nhope Chikumu (40) of Ward 4, Mushagashe West on the outskirts of Masvingo decided to swap his gun with a hoe.
His father, Albert Chikumu died in 2002 and left 12 hectares of arable land but the man only utilised less than three hectares from which he realised not less than eight tonnes of maize on average per season.
After his father’s untimely death, the young Chikumu was left with a daunting task of looking after an extended family of seven. His earnings as a soldier could not sustain them as he is also married with three children.
The load therefore became insurmountable and required him to make a quick decision. He decided to venture into farming — a decision that was very unpopular with relatives and others let alone his wife, Shalon Chikumu (34) who had little faith in farming given the economic challenges coupled with unpredictable rainfall patterns.
Nonetheless, like a soldier he counted much on his militarily taught resilience and never looked back. He credited the military training for instilling the much needed discipline in him; a tenet he claims made him succeed as the owner of Chikumu Nhope-Ward 4 Irrigation Scheme.
His plot is situated along the Masvingo- Harare Road, near Makoholi Research Station west of Gokomorere High School.
He now employs six permanent workers from the local community while his wife is the manageress. He says he produces not less than 12 tonnes of maize per season, 10 tonnes of butternut, 20 tonnes of watermelons, 30 tonnes of cabbage, sugar beans, among other crops. He sells much of his produce to the supermarkets in the nearby Masvingo City.
Speaking during a field day at his plot recently, Chikumu says he has managed to irrigate his crops using water from the nearby Shakashe River. He has installed a 27 KW diesel water pump which pumps for seven hours a day. The pump has a capacity of irrigating 20 hectares but he is only irrigating eight hectares although he hinted plans of extending his hectarage in the near future.
“I have been trained in the military to take risks as a man. When my father died in 2002, I thought of taking a risk by leaving my work and took crop farming seriously.
I took over my father’s plot and started experimenting, this was against my wife’s advice let alone my siblings who did not want me to leave my job. I have six permanent workers but during the weeding period I hire many casuals from the community,” he said.
Chikumu said unpredictable weather patterns were his main worry although he did not feel deterred as the perennial Shakashe River provided him with hope.
He said when he started he had no capital and was forced to liaise with friends working at seed companies so that he could have seed on credit but felt outdone as that was on short term.
“It was not a stroll in the park given the dry weather conditions which make crop farming a less lucrative venture. However, we have Shakashe River that does not dry, so our cropping is not seasonal. We do our farming all year round,” he said.
The former gunman uses cattle as draught power and says he has no regrets on the amount of yield he realises.
“I use an ox-drawn plough to till my land and even during planting. I realise an average of 12 tonnes of maize per season under irrigation. On a good season like in 2014, I got 17 tonnes.
I sell my produce to the community and the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) as well as supermarkets comprising Pick n Pay, OK, Nyaningwe among other businesses in Masvingo. Supermarkets usually order green mealies while I take dried maize grain to the GMB at $349 per tonne,” he said.
He said apart from addressing challenges of food insecurity in his community as villagers buy maize at an affordable price of $3 per 20-litre bucket, Mr Chikumu said he has managed to improve the quality of life for his family and siblings.
Through farming, he has managed to buy a fleet of cars which include a Nissan Wolf, Mercedes Benz, Navara and a Toyota Ipsum, some of which are used to take farm produce to the market every day.
He admitted he was not going to be able to buy the cars had he remained employed. Although he is now employed in Namibia as a pest specialist, he does not neglect his farm.
“I am not a cellphone farmer, my wife, oversees everything when I am away. She gets assistance from employees drawn from the community. However, I make sure that I am there at every stage especially during planting and I normally bring some fertilisers and pesticides from Namibia. I also get professional farming advice from my seed suppliers,” he said.
Chikumu says although he has made positive strides, he is held back by the absence of a tractor as he seeks to extend the size of irrigable land.
He also endeavours to have an electrical engine which is more efficient as opposed to the diesel one that he is currently using.
He said he felt let down by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) which he said was taking time to approve his application to have electricity connected to his plot.
His wife said when she was introduced into farming by her husband she had little knowledge but through perseverance she became used and mastered many aspects.
“I am now an expert in a number of areas because I have the zeal to learn. I have a caring husband who would not shout at me if I do some things wrong.
He taught me and now, he can be away for long knowing that everything is under control.
I have also struck a good relationship with the workers and that has helped us have the yields that we are celebrating today,” she said.
Speaking at the same occasion SeedCo sales agronomist Gilbert Goto praised Chikumu for showing other communities the way the Government’s economic blue print, Zim Asset can be embraced through farming.
“This is Zim Asset at play and Mr Chikumu is walking the talk. There is beneficiation and addressing of food security challenges which are clusters within Zim Asset. As SeedCo we are proud to be associated with farmers of such calibre.
We do not only take pride in farmers buying our products but we always expect farmers to plant correct variety of seed at the right time.
Chikumu has done us proud as one of the successful farmers that we work with as he has taken heed of our advice,” said Goto.
Goto said Chikumu has managed to plant correct variety of maize seed which had helped him in achieving a good yield from his plot and urged other farmers to emulate the good work that the Chikumus were doing.
Apart from crop farming Chikumu is into poultry where he keeps 1 000 chickens at his homestead and four grinding mills, which service the surrounding community.
