Joshua Mhembere's story

Joshua Mhembere of Shumba District had his child sick and he went house to house asking for funds to take his child to hospital. This continued up until the son got better and he was left in debt.

He was tired of owing people money and he did not have peace of mind up until he decided to do something about it.

When Help from Germany came in with the egg production project and the Mhembere household took it upon themselves to be beneficiaries in the project with the little funds they had left.

Perpetual Nyabadza, Joshua Mhembere’s wife and 4 children adopted the Farming as a family business (FaFB) approach in their egg business after acquiring the information about the FaFB model in a workshop before they received project material.

“I am my own man, I have all I need and I do not owe anyone anything,” said Mhembere. “this my independence I owe it to the whole family as we worked and still work as a family with the young children fetching water whenever they are free from school.,” He added.

According to Mhembere for a business to be successful there is need for family trust and unit of purpose in working together so that the business grows.

Mhembere also stated that: “you do not need more than 30 birds to change your life, even with the 30 a lot can be acquired if one fully dedicates all their time and little resources.”

Nyabadza noted that for a new farmer who wants to start a business like theirs it needs a person who is ever willing to sacrifice a lot of time aside to monitor the project and there is need for unity amongst family members so that there is unity in the business.

Letticia hove's story

Letticia Hove with 2030 birds has a different story to tell. She is a widow and looks after her two children and other two orphans that she was tasked to take care of by the family.

Being a widow, no one is willing to invest in whatever project you want to start as people do not see any profits coming out of the business. With Hove it was a different case.

Hove’s brother in-law saw the potential in her project and decided to support her by buying her an additional 2000 birds in addition to the 30 she received from Help from Germany at the start of the project.

“I was blessed to have so much support from my late husband’s family, my brother in-law bought me 2000 birds,” said Hove. “He said this was a way of elevating me and make me independent and be able to look after my children.” added Hove.

According to Hove all the children who are not going to school help Hove with the daily upkeep and monitoring of the business.

She added that for one to be as successful as her in this business it needs someone who has good family relations so that even close family members can assist you whenever they can. Family is important and one should treat every individual fairly as you do not know who will help you in life.

Rudo Chinyani's story

Rudo Chinyani was tired of asking her husband for money to use for an egg business project pioneered by help from Germany (help) and she decided to do something about it.

The mother of 9 years old Kudakwashe went into the village borrowing money so that she could pay for the farmer own contribution.

Chinyani is a strong woman who did not allow her husband’s words to bring her down instead they made her stronger and she is one of the successful project participants.

“My husband used to tell me to get a towel and he carries me like a baby than to waste the little money we have on a funny project and gain nothing at the end of the day,” said Chinyani.

This all changed when her husband, Clive Tayengwa, saw the building material was delivered. He was the one who also built the fowl run.

This was a good turn in their family as everyone now has something to do in making sure the business grows.

Chinyani also added that their son, Kudakwashe Tayengwa, helps them with fetching water and picking the eggs. Clive Tayengwa changes the bedding and looks for fresh grass whilst Chinyani cleans all the feeders and drinkers.

Farming as a family business is seen by this family as the ideal working concept as it gives every individual in the family a fair chance to manage the business and it has a potential of improving their lives.

“When I started this business, I was laughed at even my husband made fun of me but look at us now we are happy as a family and we share everything. New farmers should be persistent and go for what they want and all will go well,” said Chinyani.

Nelia Mushayi's story

Nelia Mushayi is a woman from Gukwe village who stays alone as all her children are now married. She manages her egg production business on her own, little did she know that one day she will regret not involving other close family members who stay in the neighborhood.

She had the worst experience one Sunday when she found one of the birds in pieces after her new dog had torn it to pieces and no one was there to look after the birds.

“I was shocked when I found one of the chickens in pieces,” said Mushayi. “I informed field officers who gave me a lecture about the project being a family business. I later asked my daughter who is married but stays close by to come and take care of the birds whenever am not there,” She added.

She added that after involving her daughter in the business she has not had any other problems with the welfare of the birds as they are catered for even when she is not around.

The farming as a family business is seen by most farmers as an ideal model as it reduces the risks of business failure and bird mortality.

Mushayi also mentioned that in the egg production business one should be temperate when it comes to project funds.

When asked what advice she would give new farmers who wanted to start the same project she said, “People should identify market gaps as to where to sell their eggs and be ever networking so that their eggs don’t go bad at home.” “This is a good project as I had no other source of income, but now am my own boss,” added Mushayi.

Jane and Leo Tawana's story

Jane Tawana and Leo Tawana is an old couple from Dehwe in Gutu district, who are project participants in the egg business project pioneered by Help from Germany (Help).

The aging couple is among a growing number of Farmers who took the farming as a family business approach in egg production business to ensure unity and harmony amongst family members and maximise on business growth.

“We learnt from workshops done by Help that it is very good to work as a family as it ensures sustainability of the business,” said Jane Tawana. “Initially I thought that letting other members of the family near my project would disadvantage me in attaining profits as they can steal the eggs and sell or cook them without my knowledge,” added Jane.

Jane laughingly added that one day she and her husband might die as age is catching up with her and her children will not have a means to survive if she had not taken the model of farming as a family business into practicality.

Leo Tawana, Jane’s husband, Said working as a family has made them realize a lot of profits as they were able to buy 51 birds in addition to the initial 32 they received as subsidized inputs form help, they also helped Leo’s brother to build a house and they bought a bicycle to carry our eggs to our customers. 

He also added that without family at heart and working together it is hard for an egg production business to grow and yield profits.

However, when asked what advice the family could give to new farmers, they said “they should come see what we have achieved and we will teach them how to take care of the layers and they should also make sure that they have enough maize to mix with concentrates because these birds eat a lot.”

Petronella Johansi's story

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Petronella Johansi of Gutu district is one of the first beneficiaries of the egg production business pioneered by Help from Germany (Help) in 2012.

As the project holder, Johansi always thought working alone was ideal as she could manage everything on her own and ensure business growth. But then she realised that all her thoughts were only but a myth.

“I worked alone from the start of the project,” said Johansi. “I fed the birds, changed the bedding and cleaned the fowl run alone. I was afraid that these children will steal my eggs and sell or cook, but I realised that it was too much work for one individual.Then at a workshop with Help from Germany we were introduced to the Farming as a family Business model,” added Johansi.

Farming as a family business is a model that Help is using to encourage people to work as families to ensure accountability and sustainability of the project.

The Johansi family expressed a lot of excitement when they started working together as it strengthened relations and brought about a new source of income.

TapiwaJohansi, Petronella’s son, said, “We work together as a family and am the overall supervisor in this business as I am now always home. I also use my knowledge from school to do the records as my mother is now old.”

He added that this is a good project as it has the capacity of bettering their lives and enabling good returns all year round.

He advised new farmers who wanted to start the project to make use of the maize from their gardens when feeding the birds to ensure productivity since the crushes they buy from grinding mills lack proteins and are at times mixed with dirt.

Erick Nhamo's story

Erick Nhamo of Domboshava is an outstanding farmer with excellent and measurable success in farming. 

He and his family have a farming background which dates back to 2007. They started with a strawberry business, yellow egg project in 2009 and in 2010 up to 2012 a broiler business with up to 1600 birds

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When Help from Germany came into their area with layer chicken project he grabbed the opportunity to be part of the project with both hands as he had prior experience in such a business.

“My motivation to join the project was not mainly because of the financial gains,” said Nhamo. “But the love of farming is the main drive,” added Nhamo.

The Nhamo family is involved in a lot of farming activities such as conservation farming where they have won a lot of prizes for their outstanding produce. He is viewed by most people in his village as an epitome of success given his success in business track record.

The Nhamo family expressed sadness when they failed to meet their target market demand as they had few eggs than what was wanted at the market.

“We have since reduced our egg tray prize as Domboshava egg farmers to a break-even point of $3 a tray from the traditional $4 a tray,” added Nhamo.

He added that a $3 profit can be realized only if a farmer has more than 30 birds.

He also advised new farmers of good practices that birds need clean water every day and there is need for proper administration of vaccines and drugs to ensure growth.

Lydia Mabvondwe's Success story

Lydia Mabvondwe and her husband decided to partake in a farming project as a way of changing their family’s way of life.

The old couple is among a growing number of Chinyika residents who took farming as a family business concept in egg production to maximise profits for the betterment of their living conditions.

“We heard a lot of people talking about projects they are doing which are funded by NGOs and we decided to take this one with Help from Germany, said Mabvondwe. “ we  also needed money to advance our agri-business project, and layer chickens have the potential of giving us the funds for our other business endeavors.”

In 2012 Help from Germany gave the Mabvondwe family a chance to partake in the egg production project. Its main thrust was reducing poverty in peri-urban Harare and improving nutrition. This can only be attained if the business takes a farming as a family approach.

Mabvondwe near his fowl run ( picture by michelle mulingo)

Mabvondwe also added that for the business to be successful there is a need for consensus amongst family members and division of labor.

“We have managed to buy a new flock of birds, paid fees for our child, and a lot of household goods from our profits, said Mabvondwe. “We are happy to be part of this project, and egg sales have benefited us financially.”

However, Mabvondwe felt that if Help had to recruit more people in future, they should increase the start up number of chickens to 50birds per individual as this will yield greater profits.

Mabvondwe added that new farmers should be risk takers, starting with a large flock so that their profits are big and they should make sure they have all the medication to minimize on birds mortality and they should be in a position to involve every family member for the sustenance of the business.

First day on attachment

It's been long since I last updated anything on this blog and sorry to keep you waiting had nothing spectacular to write about only stress of  trying to finding attachment.  Well folks wait no more am here now.

Imagine walking into an organisation and you given a personal laptop and the best welcoming  team ever. Am loving my new work place.

Tommorow we start a three day training for effective outreach program with the farmers where Help from Germany is assisting a lot of farmers to be Entrepreneurs.


Currently we focusing on an egg to go project whereby we empower rural communities around Harare to take this project to emancipate the communities from waiting for donor funding for their livelihoods and in the process poverty levels are reduced.

Help participants (picture from Help Website)

loving working here though it's just my first day there.