Harare — In recent years Zimbabweans have faced severe food shortages and staggering hyperinflation. As a result, residents in the capital, Harare, have increasingly turned to urban gardening. They grow produce just about anywhere they can – in backyards, vacant lots, on roadsides and on rooftops.
Urban gardens covered eight percent of land in Harare in 1990, according to the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP). Coverage had doubled four years later, and by 2001 people were growing crops on 25 percent of the city's land area, says UNDP.
Micro-gardens not only contribute to a household's food needs, but often any surplus can be sold in exchange for protein. Those with access to outer city plots often supply grocery stores and restaurants with produce because their transport costs are less compared to rural farmers.
Misheck Dondo has been farming in his backyard since he lost his job five years ago. He started a small garden with basics that included tomatoes and onions. These vegetables did not require a big capital investment and produced a surplus that he could sell to pay for his children's school fees. Over the school holidays his children help him in the garden.
Today, Dondo's backyard garden is full of vegetables, grains, chickens and rabbits. "I have no farming experience but you would never know, I make so much money," he says.
Despite his success, Dondo says he has no intention of becoming an entrepreneur. He says he just wants to feed his family and pay for his children's education.
Grace Mambo is among the many women who are part of Harare's informal economy. She believes that land provides unlimited potential for Zimbabweans to survive amid the recession. Experience has taught her this.
After being diagnosed with diabetes, Mambo decided she would eat healthy. Unfortunately, this was beyond her means. With Zimbabwe importing most of its food from neighboring countries, a healthy diet comes at a high cost. Determined to watch her health, Mambo began to plant vegetables such as lettuce, beetroot and leeks in a vacant lot near her home. Soon her effort for a healthy lifestyle turned into a business as she sold her excess produce to restaurants and friends.
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"I am not a part of any farmer schemes," Mambo says. "The farmers are too experienced - how can I compete?" However, Mambo managed to make enough from her garden to quit her real estate job six months ago. Now she devotes her time to finding vacant land and farming vegetables. She makes U.S.$500 to $600 a month - far greater than the average monthly government salary of $150 and more than she was making in real estate. Gardening has enabled her to enroll her two children in private school, which is typically beyond the means of most Zimbabweans.
"My problem is when the electricity goes I cannot get water from the borehole," she says. "At least my workers are very dedicated they go and find water."
