Farmer, Zambu Zulu
Zambu Zulu is a self-motivated farmer who appreciates farming, taking part in the AFAS project has given him a broad understanding of his farming production as a business. The project helped him and his family by improving his household food security. Before getting support from the project, he would harvest less vegetables in his garden due to a lack of water and alternative fertilizers. After Jacana drilled a borehole and trained him in conservation agriculture, he now produces more vegetables for his customers and makes double the income than he could make before.
Watch Zambu Zulu Just after Jacana Drilled a borehole and installed a solar pump.
About Zambu Zulu
Zambu Zulu is a farmer who lives in Zyambo village, chief Kalindawalo, Petauke District. He was born in the year 1977 and he is married and has 6 children. Zambu started his garden in 2004, and he grows different types of vegetables such as tomatoes, cabbage, red onion, okra and green pepper. the time he started his garden, he had challenges watering his crops because the scoop holes in his garden could dry up in hot season before the rains could come. he could not produce enough crops that could give him enough income to sustain his family. When he heard that Jacana was supporting small scale farmers he never hesitated to register, he was called for a business training in which he participated very well he was selected to be among the farmers to be supported by AFAS in Petauke district. Zambu Zulu wants to improve his technical way of farming by using organic manure in his garden and growing different types of crops which are not commonly grown in petauke district such as Red pepper, Yellow Pepper, Chili, Lettuce and Red Cabbage.
Donor
Zambu Zulu is supported by AFAS foundation.
Jacana’s role
- Business and financial training,
- A borehole and a solar pump,
- Agro support (partly sponsored agro supplies and inputs) and guidance,
- Bookkeeping guidance.
Provided training
You can also download the manuals for these trainings:
Guidance and monitoring
November 2023
Now that the vegetables are growing very well and he is making a very good income, Zambu Zulu developed a great interest to try growing citrus fruit trees. Jacana helped him with six partly sponsored orange trees to try on his 50m x 50m garden so that he does not only depend on vegetable production but also have an income from oranges. Eunice guided Zambu on the proper way of planting fruit trees. One of the activities they did was making plant basins, adding organic manure, mulching the plants and pest control.
October 2023
To make sure the yield of the vegetables is improved, Eunice guided Zambu Zulu on how he can properly manage the production of hybrid Red Okra which is not commonly grown in his area. He is targeting to sell the produce at local supermarket in petauke. Here in the picture Zambu together with his family are weeding the okra demo field.
September 2023
For a successful vegetable production a lot of factors need to be put into consideration, one of the important factors is how to make a proper nursery bed. Zambu Zulu was guided on the following activities: Soil management, planting procedure, control of seedling density, use of organic fertilizers and pest control. Here in the picture Zambu is watering emerging cabbage seedlings.
May 2023
In May 2023, Boston visited Zambu Zulu and guided him on how to do bookkeeping that will help him keep track of his profit and loss. Boston also guided him how to make a garden layout. The layout will help Zambu to plan, organize and maximize the space in his garden. Here in the picture Zambu received a bookkeeping box file for keeping all financial records for his garden.
June 2022
Zambu Zulu attended his first business and financial training workshop sponsored by AFAS. He learned how to make a business and finance plan. In the training, he made a business plan where he focused on expanding his vegetable production and citrus fruits, he learned how to look for customers, identify potential problems that are faced by his customers. This has helped him not only focus on growing one type of crops but also explore the market and figure out what his customers need.
