Ellinace Mwale tells me, “I decided on agriculture for two reasons. For the food security and for the business. You see, agriculture plays a dual role for small farmers, first, it provides food and reduces our dependencies on others. We grow our own food, but the second part is business since we can sell any excess crops we have, as well, as we grow as farmers, we can grow crops only for the business of it”.
The farm, as currently operated, is about two acres of land, divided between tomatoes, soybeans, ground nuts, bird’s eye chili, and fruit tree nursery. An approximate area of three-quarters of an acre is allocated for the nursery with various fruit, and indigenous trees.
Chilies occupy an acre, and depending on the hot sauce production, this area might be enlarged in the future. One of the benefits of having a small home business, it is easier to adjust to growth. If the business is big, and you suddenly get a new client, say a supermarket chain, that will purchase significant volume, you may find yourself in short supply. However, when you are selling from your garden to your neighborhood, you can control your growth and expand periodically as demand continues to increase.
The rest of the land is divided between the other crops, maize, tomatoes, soybeans, groundnuts, and so on. “It is not easy, since we have rented some extra land for the crops, but the land is not connected, so our farm is divided up. That makes all the operations more difficult, but if you organize yourself well, and plan your tasks, then you can manage.
Maize is the crop Ellinace Mwale has had the longest. It is a staple food in the area and is both for domestic use and for sale.
What is the most challenging crop you have, I ask her. “Tomatoes, are the most engaging, and they are the most prone to catching diseases. You must be monitoring your tomatoes constantly weed out any diseased plants, and cut leaves that show any signs of infection. It is a lot of work if you want to get a good harvest. Diseases and pests can ruin your crop in a heartbeat if you are not constantly on your guard”.
Ellinace Mwale tries to keep the farm as organic as possible and uses organic fertilizer for the fields. “We are sometimes forced to use chemical pesticides for the crops, but we try to keep it at a minimum and are looking for organic ways to replace those”, she says.
In our next post with Ellinace Mwale, we will turn our attention to her Birds Eye Chili cultivation.
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