Dan and Ramatah are growing a 15-hectare plot of beforehand unused land on the outskirts of Livingstone, Zambia. They’re now constructing an agribusiness, producing cherry tomatoes and contemporary greens.PHOTO/FAO/Mukaba Mukaba.
By SECIAL CORRESPONDENT
For one younger, Zambian couple, all of it started with a daring determination to go away their desk jobs. What began as conversations about constructing a significant livelihood that might give them independence quickly led to the acquisition of a 15-hectare plot to start out an agribusiness, producing meals and supporting native markets.
The plot they purchased, only a few kilometres however an hour’s drive outdoors of Livingstone, was beforehand an underutilised piece of peri-urban land. Now rows of pink cherry tomatoes and contemporary greens glitter within the solar, prepared for harvest. It’s Dan and Ramatah Chileshe’s laborious work that introduced it to life.
Throughout Zambia’s urbanising territories, cities like Livingstone are shaping how meals is produced, moved and consumed, producing each alternatives and pressures for younger agripreneurs in peri-urban areas.
As demand in cities grows, younger farmers in surrounding areas have a much bigger function to play in supplying contemporary meals, creating jobs and bridging the hole between rural manufacturing and concrete markets.
From day one, Dan and Ramatah embraced a conservation ethic: for each tree they needed to clear, they planted three new ones elsewhere.
However the early years proved tough. Tomato yields have been inconsistent, significantly through the dry season when the Maramba River receded and water was quick. With out data of and entry to extension help the couple relied on trial and error, in addition to persistence, to beat their challenges.
Throughout a two-year drought that affected each their farm and the area, they applied precision irrigation, rigorously measuring and administering solely the quantity of water required per crop. The introduction of this irrigation system not solely helped preserve water but in addition saved time for his or her labour power, bettering their productiveness.
The younger couple recognised the necessity to additionally strengthen the enterprise aspect of their enterprise and enhance capital funding. With this goal, in 2025, they joined the “Empowering City Youth for Inexperienced Jobs in City and Peri-City Agrifood Methods” undertaking of the Meals and Agriculture Group of the United Nations (FAO).
Dan and Ramatah participated in capacity-building monetary classes, gaining sensible enterprise expertise and data they might apply to their rising agribusiness. “We realized the way to plan our enterprise, handle funds, schedule manufacturing and apply new climate-smart practices,” mentioned Dan.
“It [the FAO project] helped us suppose like enterprise house owners, not simply farmers,” Ramatah mentioned.
Dan and Ramatah at the moment are additional advancing climate-smart agriculture by producing compost manure from livestock waste, producing biochar (a sort of pure fertiliser) from tomato and maize residues and practising intercropping with pepper and chilli that act as pure pesticides, decreasing the necessity for chemical substances.
The biochar restores soil fertility, improves water retention and sequesters carbon, strengthening resilience to local weather change and supporting sustainable manufacturing.
To deal with the scarcity of expert labour, they’re working with the Agri-Tech Vocational Pathway in partnership with the Pure Sources Protection Council and the Zambia Faculty of Agriculture. This initiative will deliver high college students to the farm for six-month sensible residencies, creating a powerful expertise pool of younger technicians educated in fashionable agricultural methods.
Dan and Ramatah are additionally exploring lease-to-own financing choices with suppliers, whereas aligning their investments with climate-smart funding alternatives to assist them navigate the monetary challenges of scaling their enterprise.
As younger agribusiness house owners, they’re getting ready to maneuver past main manufacturing into worth addition and digital commerce to higher serve the close by city market.
Waiting for the following 5 years, Dan explains, “We need to broaden manufacturing, introduce hydroponics and use each a part of this land effectively. We’re additionally planning to provide tomato paste and chilli sauces.”
Two hectares of high-quality soil have already been earmarked for enlargement underneath precision irrigation. Rocky terrain might be transformed into hydroponic manufacturing zones, enabling soil-less cultivation of leafy greens and herbs.
They plan to scale back post-harvest losses from tomato and chilli merchandise, whereas additionally growing a digital platform to distribute each contemporary and processed merchandise on to city customers.
Now that their enterprise has grown, the couple plans to stay and lift their kids surrounded by the character and farm that sustains them.
The abilities and help they’ve obtained have inspired them to assist different younger farmers undertake sustainable practices. Dan and Ramatah additionally plan to launch an outgrower programme, partnering with different youth smallholder farmers in city and peri-urban areas to coach them in climate-smart agriculture and land restoration. This initiative will assist them meet nationwide provide contracts, whereas strengthening native farming capability.
City and peri-urban farms are a part of the broader agrifood system that provides rising cities and cities corresponding to Livingstone. Strengthening these enterprises helps enhance the provision of contemporary meals, create jobs for younger individuals and join peri-urban manufacturing extra successfully to city markets.
Younger farmers and agripreneurs are the way forward for sustainable agriculture. FAO helps youth-led enterprises to strengthen native provide, construct greener and extra resilient manufacturing and join peri-urban jobs to rising city demand. With the appropriate coaching and instruments, youth in these rising city outskirts can paved the way in driving financial progress of their communities.
