Although at this point farming is in the blood, the brothers feel a personal responsibility to ensure growth of the farm their parents bought in 1998.
Masimbiland, named after a mountain it borders with, produces 15 ha of oranges, 90 ha of maize, 3.5 ha of chillies and keeps 30 000 breeding layers.
The farm’s nursery currently holds 1000+ mango seedlings and is targeting production of a million citrus seedlings this year.
In 2020 the brothers collaborated with another three, young entrepreneurs to invest in a new challenge: chillies
The farm allocates 3.5 ha of land to chillies, while the average size of a chilli field in Zimbabwe is between 0.5 - 1 ha.
With +/- 50 000 chilli plants, the farm has to employ about 40 pickers a day to get to all the chillies while viable.
Farm foreman Nigel is a young graduate who moved to Shamva for the job.
By hiring the wives of men already employed on the farm, they effectively improve the income of each household in the community.
“We’re nothing without the people working the land, that makes it all possible” Mako expresses
Farm worker spreading chillies to dry
Chillies drying in readiness for sale
