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C O M P A N YO V E R V I E W
Farm & City CentreNourishing Zimbabwean AgricultureWritten by: John O’Hanlon Produced by: Kiron Chavda
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A comprehensive range
Agriculture is the backbone of the Zimbabwean economy. According to the Ministry of Agriculture “it provides
livelihoods to 80 percent of the population and accounts for 23 percent of formal employment. The sector contributes 14 to 18.5 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)”.
Far more than simply a retail and wholesale outlet, though it fulfils these functions through its network of 38 stores, centred on the 3,300 square metre flagship store at 4th Street Harare, Farm & City is a strategic player with its roots in a co-operative business founded in 1908. It sells everything a farmer needs, including implements, seed, chemicals, fertilizers, tools, day old chicks, veterinary products, animal feeds, protective clothing, fencing and building materials.
Peggy Rambanapasi, the Managing Director,
Farm & City Centre is the go-to business for advice, training and professional support for Zimbabwe’s farmers, both arable and livestock, as well as providing them with the products they need to stay productive
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says ‘there is an urgent need to instil professional attitudes throughout the sector and educate farmers to be entrepreneurs and strategic thinkers. “Farming is a business, not a hobby or something to do in one’s retirement,” insists Peggy. She should know – she holds an MBA from Nottingham Trent University in the UK, and runs two businesses (Farm & City has a subsidiary Vetco supplying veterinary products to livestock farmers) that, while they might be challenges for the business to expand in the current climate, Farm & City is geared up for growth.
The greatest challenge at the moment is to ensure that farmers achieve or maximise the yield potential of the seed they are using. “Our business is to ensure that people get what they paid for – which is a quality product and the right yields. Therefore a key role to achieve this is education. Retailers in this country sell what they can. As a result there are small hardware stores, food outlets, general stores getting into the business of selling seed and other agro inputs to farmers. With the best will in the world they can’t do more than sell the seed though. Nobody checks where that seed is going to be grown, what sort of soil is there, what climatic conditions exist, what diseases are endemic locally, let alone the quality of the seed itself.”
Farm & City, she insists, must take a cradle-to-grave approach to its customers. “We deal with all the people in the value chain from the seed suppliers and fertiliser and crop chemicals
Key Personnel Peggy RambanapasiManaging Director Peggy Rambanapasi commenced her career with CFI Holdings Ltd as the Managing Director of the Town and Country supermarket chain in October 2008, before being promoted to the position of Divisional Managing Director for CFI Retail in June 2009. She holds an MBA from Nottingham Trent University in the UK
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manufacturers to the end user, and we can put these people together.” To pinch a slogan from Seed Co, it is not simply about creating a better product for the farmer but equally about trying to create a better farmer for the product!
Major suppliers like Seed Co, the largest seed producer in Africa, founded in Zimbabwe 75 years ago, and the first company in the world to hybridise maize seed commercially, form an important part of the food supply chain. Together with such suppliers, the Ministry itself and its agencies such as Agritex, Farm & City needs to work to provide technical and advisory services. It is a role Farm & City has embarked on, though there is much work to do at grass roots level. “We are the interface with the farmers after all, and lately we have been trying to promote the idea of partnership between the stakeholders, public and private.
Seed companies do a great job on seed testing and quality control, and bring technical advice to the ‘last mile’ of the supply chain, there is more that could be done. Farm & City’s co-operative ethic is impartial and has offered space to Agritex extension services and Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union in their stores to provide advice to the end users without pushing any particular product or brand. “The important thing is to increase the amount of training and advice available to farmers in upcountry areas. For me, ours is a strictly B2B model. Farmers are business owners and entrepreneurs, not simply consumers, and specialists too because farming is a scientific process. If our customers do not do well
“We deal with all the people in the value chain from supplier and manufacturer to the end user”
– Peggy Rambanapasi, Managing Director
Warehouse stock
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we will not either!”A more effective strategy would be to put all
the effort into a smaller acreage, using the best seed, fertiliser, weed and pest control to realise its full potential. Counter intuitive maybe, but sound business. Basically farmers must work smart and then increase their hectarage over time as resources permit. The focus from the country’s agricultural authorities on mechanisation and irrigation actually will support this strategy
A corner of the tools department
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in terms of both working smart and trying to alleviate climatic challenges. The same principles apply to livestock farming. There is an equal need to upskill the cattle farmers and make them more productive but to do that they need access to advice, support, and appropriate veterinary products, feeds and supplements. Accordingly Vetco is expanding its range of products and bringing in expertise and affordable products from such companies as Dopharma of the Netherlands, Ashish Life Sciences of India and Surgipharma Laboratories of Pakistan. “I tend to think that on the veterinary side people are more open to information. The vets are doing a good job in forming relationships with the farmers and getting the information to them.” But there’s still a need to
Farmers’ essentials
Ashish Life Science was established to cater ever rising need of Veterinary medicines. We believe animals have been catering to service of mankind and it is our duty to reciprocate back. We have therefore developed a strong focus on Animal Healthcare & established its name in International market by providing a very high level of customer satisfaction. The world class manufacturing facility has been set up as per cGMP-WHO guideline. The company is in the business of veterinary drugs in the form of boluses, powders, pastes, suspensions, injectable, sprays & ointments. Currently we are exporting to more than 50 countries.
SUPPLIER PROFILEASHISH LIFE SCIENCE PVT LIMITED
FARM & C ITY CENTRE
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[email protected]+ 263 477 0814/6
Graniteside Chemicals (Pvt) Ltd
Esb3 For treatment of coccidiosis in poultry
TerranoxBroad spectrum antibiotic for bacterial
infection in poultry
26 Cripps Road • Graniteside • Harare • Zimbabwe
YOUR WORKER’S PROTECTION IS OUR BUSINESSIndustrial Protective Clothing, Footwear, Rainwear & Accessories.
Garments made in Poly Cotton and
Cotton Drill fabrics.
All garments are made in Zimbabwe.
T 00263 4 750753E [email protected]@tselentisgroup.co.zwwww.tselentisgroup.com
N.Tselentis (PVT) LTD • 46 Kaguvi Street • Harare • Zimbabwe
EAST WEST SEEDS
52 Alpes Road, Vainona, Harare, ZimbabweTel: +263 4 2916681 / 2930941
or +263 77 257 2634email: [email protected]
BRED, PRODUCED & SOLDIN ZIMBABWE, FOR ZIMBABWE
Importer, Manufacturerand Distributor of Fertilizer
at a� ordable pricesat a� ordable pricesat a� ordable pricesWe distribute our Fertilizers nationwide through
Farm and City Centre Depots
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Cliff Mukumba -
Operations Manager
focus on husbandry and pasturage, she says. “You need to be able to plan, and see that livestock is well fed through seasonal drought and protected from disease in the wet periods.” While in the past you could set your watch by the rains in Zimbabwe and the greater region, both crops and livestock are now affected by a much more erratic weather patterns, she adds.
In line with the scientific approach Farm & City is advocating for its customers, the company is moving to become a knowledge-based company. “Our company’s ICT has not progressed as much as we would like, so we now need to leapfrog!” Peggy Rambanapasi proclaims. Farm & City brought in an Indian specialist company, ITree Dynamics, to implement new business intelligence platforms that will equip them for the future. “If we can capture transaction data, then dice and slice that data in more ways, we can determine the buying patterns of the customers and look into their baskets so we can meet whatever challenges they have and offer the right product at the right time.” The investment will be good for Farm & City’s stock control and capital
“Farmers are business owners and entrepreneurs, not simply consumers – and specialists too because farming is a scientific process”- Peggy Rambanapasi
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Top
names
Barbecues
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management too, as it will enable inventory levels to be cut, and a more flexible approach to ordering and fulfilment. And it is an essential preparation for another strategy, a move towards online trading.
“We need to get our farmers to be more efficient, to understand the elements that will allow them to be productive, and to get a business head on them. Where and when farming is a productive business it contributes to taxes, employment, and allows for the growth of downstream processing industry. That is a passion for our company – value addition, training and partnership!”
Company Information
I N D U S T RY
Retail
H E A D Q U A RT E R S
Zimbabwe
F O U N D E D
1908
E M P L O Y E E S
367
R E V E N U E
Not disclosed
P R O D U C T S /
S E R V I C E S
Agricultural supplies
FARM & CITY CENTRE
1, 4th Street, Harare,
Zimbabwe,
P.O Box 510
T 00263 4 251162-8
00263 4 253700-6
F 00263 4 799110
[email protected] www.farmandcity.co.zw
