“Borehole drilling and implementation of a multipurpose vegetable garden in Chikhovo Village, Zimbabwe”
My name is Jivani Givemore aged 26. Am a holder of an Bsc honours degree in agriculture (agricultural economics and extension), University of Zimbabwe.
I live in Zimbabwe being a resident of Chiredzi District. This district is located in the lowveld and is characterised by high temperature as well as low and unreliable rainfall. As a result, the place is always attacked by droughts and livestock dies of food shortages.Simultaneously, most of the families rely on dried vegetables due to limited number of vegetable gardens within the area.
This is caused by limited number of boreholes and Wells as sources of water for irrigation. More so, the situation was worsened by the downfall of the Chilonga irrigation scheme that used to be the major supplier of these garden products in 2008. Meanwhile those who are in the production of vegetables in the area, end up charging high prices taking advantage of high demand accompanied with low supply.
The aforementioned situation triggered me to get into bailing out the community through introducing a high performing multipurpose garden. To do this, there is a great need to drill and install a solar powered borehole with an depth of 40m to ensure constant supply of water thereby avoiding shortages. More so there is a need to fence the one hactare land to be used for production with the possibility of expansion in future to cater for higher production levels. A reserve tank will constructed as well as a feeder canal since flood irrigation system will be prioritised considering its low maintenance costs.
As a family,we are already a leg into this idea. We possess a garden in our residence in the triangle estates. Operations are being done there to take advantage of the availability of piped water and market. In this one quarter hactare garden, we produce a wide range of crops from tomatoes, onions, maize and field beans in a systemised rotation to maintain soil fertility and minimise use of fertilisers. However, little benefits is being realised by the residence of my home village since the garden is almost 50km away therefore the need to replicate and implement the much advanced project within the target village of Chikhovo.
The project primarily targets to meet the vegetable requirements of the residents of Ward 6, 7 and 8 in Chiredzi district. It also targets the chilonga growth point that used to be our major supplier for the previous three decades before the collapse of their irrigation scheme in 2008. With increased production levels I would like to expands and and includes Chiredzi town in my market base.
A lot of benefits will be realised from the operations. With productions being done within the community, it means there shall be a ready supply of vegetables through out the year. Again, the production in my new garden will trigger the drop in prices of vegetables considering that it shall impacts a lot in terms of volumes available for sale resulting in increased consumption of organic products. The drilling of a new borehole shall reduce the water shortages in the Area for both human and animal consumption. Crop residues shall be used to supplement feeds for grazing goats.
More so, the activities are in line with the global call for soil conservation in that the stream that runs through the land to be used , shall be filled up to reduce runoff and the garden shall utilise kraal manure as source of organic fertiliser with minimum used of artificial fertiliser. Finally, the solar powered borehole shall be self sustaining since solar is a renewable source of ernegy and it’s use does not polutes the environment.
To make this project a success, a borehole will be drilled in the first month as soon as funds are available. This shall be followed by fencing the one hactare land to be used for production and the construction of a reserve tank as well as the feeder canal. The second month will be reserved for land preparation and fertilisation of the land . A fast growing legume preferably field bean or cow pea shall be grown first to ensure that there is sufficient nitrogen in the soil before further activities. Family labour will be used in most agronomic operations with hired labour in peak labour demands.
I shall assume most of the supervisory roles considering that I holds an agricultural qualification with necessary skills in making a project a success story. More so,family implements as ploughs and hoes shall be used as well as draught animals as way to reduce production costs. A record of all expenses shall be kept and used for monitoring the resources use. Again, the record of sales to be kept so as to determine the realised prodigy.
If receives the @$5 000 advancement, I would use it in the following way:
I would spend $3000.00 in the drilling and installation of a solar powered borehole. It shall be either imported from South Africa or bought locally. Fencing ,construction of reserve tank and feeder canal shall utilise $1000 . An amount of $700 shall be used for purchase of seeds, chemicals as well as the transportation of all the requirements of the garden.
The remaining $300 will be kept for the promotional activities as well as the maintenance of the borehole. I hope the first garden return shall be realised in the fifth month from the day of implementation.
Blogpost and picture submitted by Givemore Jivani (Zimbabwe) – givemorejivani(at)gmail.com
The content, structure and grammar is at the discretion of the author only.
This post is published as proposal #39 of “YAP” – our “Youth Agripreneur Project”.
The first selection of the winners will be based on the number of comments, likes and views each proposal gets.
As a reader, you can support this speaker’s entry:
- Leave a comment (question, suggestion,..) on this project in the comment field at the bottom of this page
- Support the post by clicking the “Like” button below (only possible for those with a WordPress.com account)
- Spread this post via your social media channels, using the hashtag: #GCARD3
Have a look at the other “YAP” proposals too!
As a donor, support young agripreneurs and sponsor this unique project. Check out the side column for our current sponsors.
“YAP” is part of the #GCARD3 process, the third Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development.
The GFAiR Blog 
good good man i hope this borehole will help the people in your district develop
realy cmm , am sure this should mark the beginning of great innovations
Good idea
This is an awesome CLIMATE Smart and Sustainable project. The provision of fresh vegetables to such a disadvantaged community, provision of water to animals that are greatly affected by the droughts, the harvesting of abundant solar energy in the lovely region for a worthwhile cause is spectacular. I love every detail of this project . Keep up the good work.
Proposal number 39 from givemore jivani: With the recurrent of droughts in Zimbabwe, i think sinking of boreholes its a good idea. lrrigation is the way to go in order to ensure food security. The issue of irrigatable gardens where you intend to produce vegetables can reduce malnutrition diseases in your community.
thanks Mr Jenya , its high time that acquired knowledge is put into use , considering that dry land farming is no longer reliable, irrigation remain the sole solution
Well done very brilliant ideaa
a good line of thinking as it is one way to adapt to climate and good security issues.
welcome , I appreciate your support to my idea
I like ,i like…
thanks a lot for noting out something unique within my idea
I hope you get the project going. This is a really practical way to improve incomes, and food and nutrition security at grassroots levels. Great!!! I hope to such practical ideas are implemented to deal with climate change
good idea Givemore, implementation now is the critical thing when it comes to long term projects
This is e brilliant idea Mr Jivani, may the Lord continue giving u th best insight fo Eva n Eva. may God bless your project.Amen
how old is your project? nvr hesitate to wrk extra hard, the reward z waiting 4 u in de near future.
@ mr matsilele, I did gardening for more than 10years, I only want to take our works into the rural village
bhora mberi, I rilly like th idea.plz remain firm n wrk extra hard.
“YAP Proposal #39: “Borehole and vegetable garden” (Givemore Jivani, Zimbabwe)”
Allow me to take this opportunity to support this aforementioned project in relation to issues revolving around Sustainable Development and food nutrition. With respect to the survey i conducted in my dissertation, in partial fulfillment of a BSc Hons in Agricultural Economics, Research and Extension, in assessing and trying to quantify the benefits and social inclusion of these projects which includes community gardens and even other small practices in open and under utilized areas, the benefits we of no smaller magnitude.
Under the category of social inclusion, many of the participants were widowed, old aged, informally employed, not highly educated as this reduced their chances of being formally employed in the short and long run, with higher dependency ratios and a very low asset count.
The benefits thereof were of no smaller magnitude as they could be able to gain surplus from the selling of their produces, spent even up to 3 months on average with the maize grain from their smaller plots, save more than $10 per week of the actual expenditure they could have incurred if it were no of subsistence, allowed for diversity, allowed for availability of locally cheap and safe produce to the non practitioners too. At the end, from just smaller projects facilitated by ADRA of having boreholes sunk for irrigation and utilization of the underutilized inexhaustible source of water from the quarry dam a lot of people benefited.
However, i did not mention of other non-monetary benefits such as beauty and aesthetics. But of my major thrust was on just a bit of the realized and proven benefits which ensures sustainable development, that is one that does not compromise the ability of future generations to also meet their necessities or that does not result in degradation or depletion of resources.
It would be of my great honor to be able to look forward keenly for this project and be able to quantify the extent to which the benefits would be derived to the community. I thereof do not regret accrediting this above mentioned project.
As the project will be ongoing, i also highly recommend the farmers again to register on http://www.agromall.co.zw as this platform is trying to link farmers to access cheaper and guaranteed inputs supply at lower prices and at the same time allow for bidding of prices and also receiving current market information and weather forecasts.
nice idea botie, hope it will attain fruition
nyc idea botie, hope it will reach tuition
that is a great idea Givemore. the availability of a borehole will offer water relief and sustainabilty
amazing idea….. may God make it a dream come true
This is a good initiative as the majority in that region are food insecure.
Good idea May God bless it
thank you very much Evelyn, let’s hope it will succeed for the community to reap the benefits
Givemore, your way of thinking is so constructive. most of the resources are being underutilized and gullies expanding day and night . manure is being thrown away as if it’s not a precious resource. I hope if this succeed shall see our area becoming green again
I like the idea since it is in line with the mitigation of climate change. I uphold your commitment
let’s hope you won’t divert the funds to other commitments- this is a good idea provided its implented in rural setup
zimbabwe and the world at large needs minds like those for sustainable growth
That is a good project which will improve the livelihoods of people in that area.
A good initiative.
A good project indeed.Tts a gud mv man.yu must fully utilise the knowledge so acquire to th fullest so tt Zim will shyn for Real
a gud move Givy.jus continue wth th commitmnt
thats wondetful gee
A project good indeed, keep it up Sir
good proposal Sir.keep up the good standard.
Wish you the best Givemore
I love your way of thinking good.
what an innovative solutions keep it up jiv
well thought, we expert results
mind
I am also looking forward to do such same project and your outcome will give me a better decision, thanks
Givemore, that’s what we were waiting to hear from you keep it up
yes manure is a precious resource, am happy to hear that you would utilise it.
greening the world is what we expect from agric specialist, hope you succeed
the great one, I know your family garden in triangle , its a good one
This is a noble idea. I know the Chilonga area and no meaningful agriculture can be undertaken without irrigation. I am humbled by you initiative and having worked with you as an intern, i know you can do it.