The Sunday Mail
Leroy Dzenga
WHEN Lamentine Mutsatsa (28) graduated with a Diploma in Agriculture from Chibero Agricultural College, he sought to respond to a lifelong question he had.
Having seen their family garden at home struggle when seasons changed, he wanted to find a way to ensure they could grow food all year round.
Having worked as a farm manager for a few years, he realised that the question of how horticultural produce like tomatoes become scarce in parts of the year was yet to be sufficiently answered by farmers around him.
This is when he decided to return to school, enrolling with the University of Zimbabwe to study Crop Science.
Immediately after graduating, he set up his own company called 247 Action Greenhouse.
The company, which started in March 2021, constructs greenhouses and helps farmers with expertise on how to manage them.
“I always had a passion to run my own things. I worked for several companies and farms. Although I learnt valuable lessons, I felt that I needed to do more. This is what pushed me to start my own company,” said Mutsatsa.
“What we do is we construct greenhouses, then we set up the drip irrigation system and trellising. After that, we help the farmer with planting and management of the crop, right up to marketing,” said Mutsatsa.
In 2022, they have constructed over 20 greenhouses covering horticultural crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and carrots.
When he opened the company, it was hard for him to convince farmers to trust him due to his age.
“They had been used to companies run by older colleagues. Where others would get contracts easily, I had to explain myself and carry papers to prove my competences,” said Mutsatsa.
He soldiered on, and after a few farmers had trusted him with their work, the referrals started coming in.
“In one year, we have grown. We have managed to set up our offices and recruit staff. We now have 13 workers. We have also bought a vehicle we use to do farm visits,” said Mutsatsa.
It usually takes his team about two weeks to construct a greenhouse.
On average, a 120-square-metre greenhouse costs US$2 200, while one that covers 300 square metres would need about US$4 000.
A 120-square-metre greenhouse can house 400 tomato plants, with each plant carrying an expected output of about 15 kilogrammes.
Explaining the economics, Mutsatsa said: “A 120-square-metre greenhouse costs about US$2 200 to set up, maybe the seedlings and pesticides may need US$500. However, if you compute the figures, a farmer is likely to get 6 000 kilogrammes throughout the year and if they are sold at $1 per kilogramme, that would amount to US$6 000 in returns.”
He added that the structure can last up to five years before there is any need for refurbishment.
“The returns grow as the years pass, as the farmer would have recovered the initial money they seeded in the construction of the greenhouse,” Mutsatsa said.
In the face of climate change and the shrinking of available farming space, Mutsatsa said greenhouse farming offers sustainability
“There isn’t enough space for everyone to get a large farm. Greenhouses allow for intensive productivity over small spaces. Also, greenhouse plants can last for up to 10 months, unlike open-field plants, which rarely go beyond three months. A farmer who has a greenhouse harvests every week for the whole year, which, in my view, gives a better advantage,” said Mutsatsa.
Mutsatsa said besides the money, he has created relationships with farmers, which he would not trade for anything.
“Seeing someone walking the journey from being an amateur farmer to a point where they are now supplying big shops is one of the most gratifying feelings ever. My dream is to help Zimbabweans turn all their excess space, including backyards in urban areas, into money,” he said.
