Ken Root was part of a small delegation that traveled to South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia in October to look at investing in farm land. Underwritten by People's Company, a farm real estate firm based in Des Moines, IA, Ken was accompanied by a videographer and an investment analyst. Trip video will be used at the January 23 Land Investment Expo in Des Moines. Ken’s group was shown several farms by Koos DeKlerk, general manager of Emvest Investments, and Susan Payne, Executive Chairman of Emvest Investments. Koos is from Zimbabwe and was part of the largest commercial farm in the country until they were dis-appropriated of their land and thrown out of the country in 2004. Four brothers joined hundreds of displaced Zim farmers who now run farms and ranches all over southern Africa. Susan Payne is a Canadian who now leads an investment fund that owns farms in Africa. 

“We were there in the dry season, but we saw harvest of wheat in Zambia that was yielding 135 bushels per acre. It was irrigated and was a white variety bred in Zimbabwe.” The white wheat was very good quality with about a five-month growing season. Ken reports that they saw the fields where ‘maize’ (or corn) was grown with yields of 115 bushels on dry land due to a good water table underneath. Land of southern Africa is like the southwestern United States with latitude that approximates San Diego, Ken explained. Bananas are a tropical crop that is cultivated on a commercial scale of about 100 acres. Since there are many workers on farms, a crop like bananas is hand-harvested and processed on farms, he added. There is a good market for the crop in the local area and within driving distance. Tomatoes are also grown intensively but flooding the market often makes the price drop. There is still unrest in South Africa as the government is only 20 years old, and white farmers fear that they will lose their land as happened in Zimbabwe. Most think there will be some reduction in acreage owned by white farmers, but the government will not make wholesale changes.

Mozambique is the least developed area as it was a Portuguese colony and was severely impacted by AIDS. “The land was dry but irrigation was available in the region we toured. The people work cheap but 20% of the labor bill is for security of the property. Irrigation pumps and other infrastructure are guarded 24 hours a day,” Ken said. “Zambia has tourism at Victoria Falls, but the region also has beautiful farms that show promise. The country operates under British-type law so land can be bought and sold by non-residents. Irrigation out of the Zambezi River was producing good crops of wheat and sugar cane.” 

Koos DeKlerk and Susan Payne were the tour leaders. Garhard Dreyer is a South African farmer who has grains, cattle and peanut processing as his main businesses. Also, he owns a game farm.Cattle shown are from Mozambique.