Chillies changing lives in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe

Source: Chillies changing lives in Chimanimani | Herald (Business) Ray Bande-Senior Reporter YOUTHS in Chimanimani are smiling all the way to the bank after a good harvest of chillies for export, thanks to the Empower Bank-funded project which was expertly spearheaded by the lead farmer at Dombera Farm. A 10-hectare piece of land was put under chillies production with a total of 70 youths from Chimanimani District near Dombera Farm tending the crop. The youths have an average of 0.1ha each. In an interview, Empower Bank Mutare Branch Manager, Mr Hillary Nyanhongo said they injected funding into the programme after the identification of a lead farmer to coordinate the production and export of the produce. “We came in as the financier of the project after a lead farmer was identified. The lead farmers in this case were the Baileys who run Dombera Farm in Chimanimani. “When we initially funded the project, we injected $3,9 million which translated to about US$35 000 at the prevailing ...