Written by: Lewis Ncube

“How can a grown-up man like you grow chilies that are all over our gardens. They are not marketable! You don’t learn, this will leave you worse off,” jeered one of the fellow farmers in Chisina. These words resonated in Innocent’s head. This was a second blow to the 43-year-old Innocent Chifamba’s efforts of getting out of poverty. He looked at his wife, Tarisai Magombedzi (34), his son, Simba (4) and 3 daughters, Christine, Nokutenda and Ruva,12,7 and 3 years old respectively and just thought of how they were feeling, especially, seeing their breadwinner failing to give them a better life. This was depressing!

Innocent’s family migrated from Chirau area in Mashonaland West to Gokwe in 1980 in search of a better life by growing cotton. Cotton known as the ‘White Gold’ in the local area, was attracting farmers from all over the country as it was paying good money. “l remember seeing my father holding a bunch of money. Plenty dollars, wads of real cash! I have never held such a lot of money in my life. My father bought a scotch cart, cattle, clothes and groceries for the family. “We were a happy family.” said a visibly happy Innocent. His eyes turned watery. “That was life in the 80s and 90s. This changed as l was growing up and cotton became a cash crop of ridicule as farmers were just breaking even or making outright losses.” continued Innocent. “I remember some people from a cotton company coming to repossess scotch carts, ploughs and household assets from farmers. This was a painful experience as farmers’ lives were reduced to nothing.” quipped Innocent with a heavy heart. “I went through all that too!”

I made a resolution never to go back to that life. However, things were not easy outside as there were no jobs. “I tried bricklaying and it failed, tried being employed as a temporary teacher, that also did not work out.” Innocent was thinking of going back to Mashonaland West as life was getting tougher in Chisina. He was silently telling himself that life was better that side as he had social capital through a lot of his kinship. While he was still thinking about how to go about his plan, SIMBA came in the area with a market development intervention. He got enrolled to grow chili. Everyone in the area laughed about growing that crop. He was a source ridicule again! Farmers had never heard of anyone who had grown chili on a commercial basis. “Your family is going to be very healthy this year, eating all that chili on your own,” laughed one of his neighbors, remembers Innocent. “That did not go down well with me as l was seeing the other side of growing the chili. A seed of doubt was sown into my mind! What if Better Agriculture (BA) will just drop buying this crop, what will l do with it? No-one consumes this crop in large quantities in the community. Was it being confirmed that l will always live a poor life and drag my family to my misfortune? I spent sleepless nights thinking about this.” However, lnnocent got solace from the extension officers that came from BA and SIMBA. They gave him strength and he saw all his crops growing so well.

“My life changed when l received my first payment from BA. The price was 10 times more, per kilogram, than a person who was selling cotton. I never looked back. I requested for more growing area as my 0.5ha was proving to be too small and had seen a big opportunity. “Innocent remembers that his request was turned down as the whole community was now interested in growing chili. He recalls sitting down with his family and they decided to re-invest in the project. “I bought irrigation pipes, solar pump system and drilled a borehole. This made life easier for my family when going to water the chili plot.” His wife and children found more time to concentrate on their different businessesx. Furthermore, he notes that this paid dividends as over the years he managed to restore everything that he had lost. He bought cattle, sent children to school, fed his family and even improved his home.

“I would like to thank the SIMBA project and the support from the European Union that has made our lives bearable and productive. I now produce my chili from a 1ha as l have the capacity and skill to grow the crop. Even if SIMBA comes to an end l will continue with my relationship with Better Agriculture or whichever market that comes to buy chili. I never knew l could tell a happy story again!” Chuckles Innocent, rising to shake my hand and embrace me.

Some of the harvested chili seen by extension workers at Innocent’s plot        “You guys are great,” Innocent with an extension worker