YAP Proposal #199: Tomato Growing (Mulenga Mugabeni, Zambia)

Feeding the community through tomato growing and improving the country’s food security

I have always had an interest in agriculture within my country. My name is Mulenga Mugabeni a young male aged 25 coming from Zambia in a city called Kitwe and from a family of four, I am the second born with an elder brother and two young sisters. I am currently a graduate in Computer Networking and planning to major into aviation as a pilot.

HERE IS A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF MY PROJECT

My target is towards the creation of jobs for most of the youths within my community and the country at large. The agriculture sector has been deeply neglected by most youths. Most youths do not see it has a field to major in as a business. Vegetable production of crops like (tomatoes, cabbages) can help the community obtain various nutrition for their households.

Tomato is one of the country’s most important cooking ingredients. Most of our food is never complete without tomato. We use it for preparing stews, soup, salads and many more. Tomato has many health benefits, it is a source of vitamins like Vitamin E, and it also enhances the health and sharpness of the eyes. I believe one can never go wrong with this wonderful fruit berry. It goes with everything, even our traditional foods need tomato.

Through this project I will be able to help my fellow youths of both genders and the entire community through learning structures like;

1. How to grow tomatoes
2. How to implement it as a source of income (business) for themselves.
3. Entrepreneurship skills.

MY MOTIVATION

My motivation was out of the concern to see most of my fellow youths having self-sustainable plans, in this case Agriculture. Most youths are involved in beer drinking and are jobless. With this project it will help in creating jobs for most youths and the community.

STEPS TO ACHIEVING SET GOALS

1. Train selected youths on best practices in growing tomatoes and vegetables.
2. Facilitate Establishment of a youth driven cooperative. Youths from different communities will be gathered to form a cooperative that can engage in doing business with other tomato growers.
3. Sensitize the youths on Entrepreneurship skills and Career Choice Making.

IMPLEMENTATION

To get the project underway, the following have been organized;

1. Visitation of Farm Areas that are involved in tomato/vegetable production where youth will be formed for demonstrating technology and better strategies in farming.
2. I will measure the success through seeing the increasing in youth numbers taking an interest in farming sector and form their agricultural ventures.

PLANNED BUDGET

• USD 1,621 for purchasing solar electric pump set
• USD 1,400 for purchasing the drip irrigation system
• USD 545 for the purchase Seeds, fertilizers, insecticides
• USD 999 purchasing of plant vitamins and mounting of poles and strings
• USD 435 for information provision and marketing of produce.

Blogpost and picture submitted by Mulenga Mugabeni (Zambia) – mulenga.mugabeni(at)gmail.com