AGRICULTURE
Ibis Farm is 850 ha, with 150 ha arable land – 100 ha cropping and 50 ha vegetables.
The farm boasts a Horticulture Centre of Excellence, whose beneficiaries are the Zimbabwe Horticultural Industry and Dutch companies interested in starting or expanding their activities in Zimbabwe. The centre has partnered with the world’s leading specialists and NGOs to ensure access to superior technology, training of the highest global standards, access to capital, cutting-edge growing techniques and a viable and sustainable route-to-market.
Key to our success is the empowering of local small scale farmers, sharing best practice, knowledge and a transfer of expertise in order to enrich and strengthen the Zimbabwe agribusiness sector.
This business is set to expand rapidly, with a regional focus on re-investing in land and empowering local communities.
Medium-term plans include state-of-the-art greenhouses, cold rooms, warehousing, receiving centre for small scale produce, central packhouse, canning & bottling plant and distribution centre.
Ibis Farm’s vision is to develop their supply base to include supply from 20 out-growers in the next few years, thereby developing new businesses and contributing to the goals of sustainable development in food production and productivity, ensuring food and nutrition security, as well as developing agro-business value chains through increased opportunities for value addition in the export market.
With high-quality export crops, including the cooperative production from smallholder outgrowers, and the advantage of expert horticultural training, as well as an established route to market, Ibis Farm is set to pave the way for the future of successful agricultural development in Zimbabwe.
It focuses on developing the skills of smallholder farmers in the horticultural sector, through a series of training days, open field demos, farmer field days and ‘train the trainer’ initiatives, ensuring sustainability and an ongoing transfer of knowledge.
Historically, the Dutch have proved themselves globally to be experts in the agri-business arena, particularly in the horticultural sector, and the Green Impact Centre offers local small-scale farmers the opportunity to learn from the best Dutch innovators in their field.
The Green Impact Centre also assists Government Agricultural Colleges and Universities, with lecturers from the various learning institutions able to attend the training sessions, as well as taking part in the ‘train the trainer’ open days.