ZNSCA-Zimbabwe National Soybean Commodity Association- The house that David built!

 1. Mrs Barbra Ngwenya- Somnene plot # 86

                  

 

 

 

2. The house that David Built! 

Barbra and David Ngwenya in front of their house

 

3. Elizabeth Musimwa (yellow hat), the Ngwenyas and the

Governor (cream shirt) of Matebeleland South Province of

 Zimbabwe in David’s soyabean plot

     

Mrs Ngwenya and the AGRITEX extension worker Mr Dube stand outside the Ngwenya unfinished brick house in 2003. The family started constructing this house in the late 1990’s but stopped because of inadequate financial resources. The Ngwenya family’s main source of income is farming sorghum, groundnuts and a bit of maize. The Zimbabwe National Soyabean Commodity Association was invited by Mrs Melta Moyo (Programme Director) and Mr Land Ndebele (Chairperson) of Tchinyunyi Babili Trust. An association of 30 members that are soyabean growers was formed in 2003 and is still active though facing challenges of procuring fresh soya seed. The Ngwenya family harvested and sold soya every year. They used some of the income earned to complete their house more than 10 years later.

Somnene small scale farming area is in Bulilima District, Matebeleland South Province , 80 km due west of Bulawayo town. It is in Agricultural Natural Region IV   that receives 450 to 650 mm of rain and is often subject to periodic seasonal droughts and severe drought spells during the rainy season. The rains are too low for cash cropping but soya beans were found to be slightly more tolerant because of the deeper root system. General soya bean yields in the area ranged from as low as 0.300 MT per hectare to 1 MT per hectare depending on soils, rains and water conservation technologies used by the farmer.