My name is Victoria Mwanukuzi, Managing Director of Nyanzobe Insight Limited. A company that deals with horticulture production, mainly tomatoes, coloured capsicum, okra, cucumbers as well as mangoes. I started my business in 2015 immediately after leaving my formal employment to start my own business. My decision was inspired by a project I had worked in charge of Agriculture and Energy projects funded by the European Union to the government. It is during this time that I developed an interest in farming practices.
Annual staff Retreat to plan for crop production for 2019
HOW I STARTED
I used the money I was paid after leaving my job to start my business business. I did not have any experience in doing business and so I neither had business budget nor a detailed workplan.
My biggest mistake was to tell myself I had money, and without doing any research, built a greenhouse. This was because I was told it gives a lot of returns. The results were not good; I had planted tomatoes and they did not grow at all. I had no choice but to do it again, and because I had money, I constructed another greenhouse, this time there were some results but not to my satisfaction.
Then in 2017, I joined the Graca Machel Trustsâ Women Creating Wealth (WCW) programme and committed myself fully. To my surprise it was worth the training. The Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies (PECS) were the best tools for my business.
LESSONS LEARNT
During the course, we were assigned coaches to advise us how to run our businesses effectively. My coach taught me how important it is to start small and with what one has. When one starts small it enables then to build a strong foundation and growth structure. It is during this time that, as a company we decided to do open field farming. We learnt that the business should be able to cater for itself where operation is concerned and borrow money for farm developments. It is during this time and for the first time, we prepared a workplan and financial forecast for the business. At the end of last year, we had a staff retreat that was facilitated by an experienced agronomist. During the training, we learned how to develop an annual crop production plan for 2019 to enables us to be consistent and have produce throughout the year.
WAY FORWARD
We are planning to share our experience with other farmers especially women and encourage them to form clusters. We have experienced staff with Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) who will be able to help these farmers and as a result we can purchase products from them and continue to build our clientele. We want also to add another revenue stream of selling seedlings to ensure that the farmers we are working with are getting reliable seedlings. There is hope in the future and we believe our company will empower women farmers to improve food security for all as well as their livelihoods.
Learn more about our women in agribusiness programmes
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