Vaya
Tractor plans to plough at least one million hectares of land for smallholder
farmers in Zimbabwe this year.
The
On Demand Logistics platform, developed by Cassava, already has 3 000 tractors
on its platform and over one million smallholder farmers registered with its
EcoFarmer network.
Cassava
Smartech Zimbabwe CEO Eddie Chibi said the platform is engaging the government
and farmers to help with this season’s ploughing.
“We
have the capacity to do at least one million hectares as long as support is
provided for financing the farmers, as well as ensuring there is enough diesel
for the tractor owners,” Mr Chibi said.
Mr
Chibi said the Vaya tractor platform works in the same way as the Vaya car
service. A farmer can request for a tractor in much the same way as someone makes
a request for a Vaya carpool.
“If
there are a number of farmers in an area, we send a tractor. Farmers have
already began to order,” Mr Chibi said. Vaya can also transport a tractor into
an area using its large fleet of trucks.
Mr
Chibi said Vaya Tractor aims to carry out all ploughing in the country within the
next three years. The company also wants Zimbabweans in the diaspora to buy
tractors and put them on the Vaya Tractor platform as a business opportunity.
Vaya
Tractor was developed by Cassava’s Vaya Logistics, working with a partner from
Ghana. Every tractor on the platform has a tracking device and there is a
daily audit report of the tractor’s movement. Tractors can also be tracked by
satellite in remote areas where there is no mobile phone coverage.
Vaya plans
to roll out Vaya Logistics in other African countries.
“We
in Zimbabwe are the first country to try out this revolutionary approach to
mechanisation, but eventually it is going to be a continental model,” said Vaya
Africa CEO Oswald Jumira.
Meanwhile,
Mr Chibi said Vaya had already began to do work for organisations that do
contract farming work in partnership with smallholder farmers.
