Farming cabbages, maize and tomatoes

Mandla

Lusaka, Zambia

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Mandla

Member since

February 2020

On-time repayments

56 installments  •  45%

About Me

I was born and raised in Zambia. I started my primary school at Lake road PTA school in Lusaka till grade 3 when I moved to Chengelo School, a boarding school in Mkushi which is in central province of Zambia. I was at Chengelo right up till my A-Levels when I finished in 2007. My Father who was the bread winner of our family passed on about 2 months before I wrote my IGCSEs in 2006, but thank God I managed to finish and pass them. After his passing, things got really tough for me and I had to learn to fend for myself. I had an uncle who was living in South Africa at the time and he volunteered to help me pay for my tertiary education so in 2008 I moved to Jahannesburg south Africa where I was enrolled at Monash University South Africa to study Business management. I studided there for 1 and half years until my uncle began to experience some financial difficulties and could no longer pay for me. I then had to stop university and would find different ways of trying to make money in South Africa, such as being a tourist guide as the World Cup was close. After the World Cup in 2010, I decided to leave South Africa to return back home to Zambia. My mother had an interior decorating company which she asked me to help her run as she became busy with her new job working as a lawyer for the government. I managed the business until 2012 when I decided to go back to school and I enrolled at ZCAS (Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies) to study Marketing. I was being assisted with finance for my studies by one of my late fathers friends, and he helped for about 1 year then I had to again fend for myself. It was during this time that I developed an interest in agriculture and farming. I lived on a farm, but it was not productive at all. I decided that I could use the land to help finance my studies and got in horticultural farming growing tomatoes and cabbages. I started in 2013 and it helped me up until I obtained a BA (Hons) degree in marketing in 2018.

My Business

I am a small scale farmer based in Lusaka-West. I currently produce vegetables such as tomatos, cabbages and fresh maize which I supply to local markets and supermarkets. I am also about to start supplying seedling to surrounding farmers using a seedling nursery which I recently constructed. There is a huge demand for these commodities in the the surrounding markets and a supermarkets as the demand for food can never be met due to the ever growing population in Lusaka. I chose this business because I love to farm and to help feed people.

Loan Proposal

I will buy some fertilizer for our newly planted fresh maize field. In addition I will also buy fertilizer for the vegetable garden which is in need of fertigation. The loan will also help to purchase some chemicals for the fields too.

Income Source

I believe the business I am in can be classified as an essential business. The demand for food has only increased during the pandemic and farmers are now required to produce more to meet market demand. I will market my produce more vigorously to potential clients such as the supermarkets and marketeers as a way to take advantage of doing more business during this period.

Feedback

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$81.00

Date disbursed

May 22, 2020

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

3 weeks

Lenders

D

Davieboy

Melbourne, Australia

L

Liz

Nowra, Australia

Jason

Auckland, New Zealand

dlpringle

Denver, United States

R

Roman

Slovakia

T

Tim

Germany

Maria Lawler

United States

MF

Makepeace-Boyle Family

New Brunswick, Canada

Ask Mandla a question about this project, share news and photos of your own, or send a simple note of thanks or inspiration.

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  • Mandla    Jun 29, 2021

    Thankyou very much for this loan. I will be able to buy the inputs needed for growing an assortment of vegetables.

    God bless

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  • The Clemmons Family    Jun 29, 2021

    Best of luck with your farm!

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  • Steveandson    Jun 28, 2021

    Our best wishes to you, Mandla, in your farming this year!

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  • Mandla    Jun 25, 2021

    The last loan was helpful in producing vegetables/cabbages that I was able to sell at the market and raise enough money to pay workers and continue my farming operations.

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  • Mandla    Apr 17, 2021

    Thankyou for this loan. I will buy seed and other inputs to begin my seedlings production.

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  • Mandla    Apr 15, 2021

    The last loan was used in my annual growing of cabbages. There were so many challenges and indeed the loan helped in addressing some of the challenges like buying of pesticides which were required. This had a meaningful impact on the project.

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  • Mandla    Feb 5, 2021

    Thankyou very much for this loan. It will help me get started on my next project by getting the seed and other inputs required to get started. God bless you.

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  • Jessica Stovall    Feb 3, 2021

    Wishing you much success, love, and happiness from Texas.

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  • Mandla    Feb 3, 2021

    The previous loan was helpful in buying inputs which contributed to us realising a good yield of fresh maize. Proceeds were able to help pay workers as well as start preparing for our next crop

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  • Lebetina    Jan 4, 2021

    I called Mandla he said he will repay this week, he had financial challenges .Thank you so much.

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  • Mandla    Dec 6, 2020

    Thankyou so much for this loan. I will buy seed and inputs for us to grow the maize successfully. God bless you.

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  • Jody and John    Dec 5, 2020

    Really like that your business is providing needed food and employment for your community.

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  • Mandla    Dec 1, 2020

    The last loan helped finance inputs for winter maize which was harvested in October. Sales were lower than expected, however we were still able to provide a salary for workers who depend on the farm to earn a living.

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  • Ketty    Nov 14, 2020

    Dear Lenders.

    I spoke with Mandla and he explained that he is aware of his outstanding loan and that he will make a repayment soon. Thank you.

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    • Mandla    Nov 16, 2020

      Thankyou so much Ketty. I have paid up the balance today. Apologies to the lenders for the delay as I had a close bereavement which took up my finances etc.

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  • Wendy Emlyn    Nov 12, 2020

    Hello Mandla,
    Are you able to make any more payment yet?
    God bless you,
    Wendy

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  • Ketty    Oct 1, 2020

    Dear Lenders,

    I spoke with Mandla and he explained to me that he will make repayment towards his loan next week.

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  • Mandla    Sep 7, 2020

    Thankyou very much for this loan. It will really help us get the inputs that are required for our cabbage project after transplant. God bless you!

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  • Mandla    Sep 2, 2020

    Then previous loan has helped us begin our nursery to grow our cabbages. We are aiming for 15000 cabbages by December as that is when the price for cabbage is attractive. We managed to buy the seed, fertilizer and chemicals for the cabbages before they are transplanted.

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  • Chiozya    Aug 19, 2020

    Dear Lenders,

    I spoke with Mandla and he has explained that he intends to make a payment towards his loan this Friday. Thank you.

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  • Mandla    Jul 27, 2020

    Thankyou very much for this loan which will surely be put to good use to continue growing our farming business. It will go a long way into buying more inputs for our current cabbage project. God bless you.

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