By Derrick Silimina
An FQM Trident-backed scheme is uplifting more than 150 vegetable producers in Kalumbila and strengthening the local horticultural value chain.
The Ndimi vegetable aggregation and supply programme has continued grooming new agripreneurs since 2019 when Trident Foundation through the FQM Trident mine opened the Ndimi Vegetable Market Shop.
This was an initiative for an immediate market enabling local farming communities to sell their vegetable produce and generate income for their families.
“We help our local farmers grow any type of vegetables, then we collect their produce and supply it to the mine. At the end of the day, we make an income for them out of the aggregation program,” Ndimi Project Coordinator Teddy Sakala says.
Sakala states that the response from local farmers in the last five years has been overwhelming, considering that most of them never even thought of earning monthly income from selling vegetables.
The Ndimi Vegetable Market Shop has in the last five years educated the local farmers on how to manage their agri-business. According to the Trident Foundation, the Ndimi project services farmers within a 50km radius of the FQM Trident mine’s catchment area in Kalumbila District.
“We are supporting over 150 farmers that do supply their various vegetable produce including rape, eggplants, cabbage, tomatoes, spinach, and onions among others to nine designated collection points within our catchment area.”
He notes that moving forward, the initiative plans to open up several vegetable outlets in a bid to meet the growing demand for both traditional and English high-value vegetables through several markets such as All Terrain Services (ATS), the catering company that feeds thousands of staff who work for FQM Trident mine.
In addition to the local supply chain, Sakala highlights that the Ndimi Vegetable Market Shop also supplies Choppies supermarket, the Clubhouse at the Kalumbila Golf Estate, and catering companies that service various companies around the mining town.
“In the next five years, we see Ndimi growing to higher heights. We intend to do massive works and our target is to supply vegetables to several companies here and out of Kalumbila because what you see here is what remains after we are done with supplies.”
One of the local beneficiaries of the Ndimi programme is Bernard Katoka from Kalumbila’s Kansanji area. Katoka, 39, pays glowing tribute to FQM Trident for coming up with a sustainable initiative that has provided a ready market to local vegetable producers.
“Many thanks to the mine for the Ndimi vegetable project which has improved our lives for us local vegetable farmers. I can now afford to take my children to school, and buy food especially because the drought has affected maize yield in this year’s farming season,” the father of eight quips.
Katoka has since 2015 been a consistent supplier of cabbages, green pepper, tomatoes, lettuce and rape among others to the Ndimi Vegetable Market Shop and earns approximately K5000 income per month.
Due to an unmet demand for vegetable supplies in Kalumbila District, he plans to increase the production of veggies on his farmland from the current two lima to five.
“Before I was introduced to this supply chain, l used to struggle a lot in life; but with this vegetable aggregation and supply programme, I now plan to build a family house and also buy a car to enable me to ease my mobility challenges.”
Mervis Mutonge, another local producer of horticultural products from Kalumbila’s Kisasa area echoes Katoka reminiscing how it was previously hard then to survive in the horticultural sub-sector.
Mutonge affirms that the Ndimi veggies programme has since positioned and taught her to turn agriculture into a real business.
“Before this programme, I used to struggle a lot with market availability in the district as my vegetables then would go to waste but now, I am grateful to Trident Foundation for empowering us with this profitable horticultural value chain off-take linkage.”
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