Commercial Farming Activities at Watershed College

Watershed College comprises three farms on a total of approximately 150 hectares of land, of which just over 60 are arable and the remainder suitable for livestock grazing. There are facilities for over 2000 broilers and 600 laying chickens, but currently poultry production is in state of suspension because of the of the general economic situation.

Commercial production is concentrated mainly on tobacco of which 12 hectares which is under the plough. There is a small breeding herd of cattle, from which it is intended to produce tube bulls.

The College is intending to commercialize the whole farm in an effort to enable it to meet its full potential. We are in the process of looking for a strategic business partner, as financial resources are limited.

There is also an embryonic afforestation program that shall be introduced, which will meet international carbon principles in relation to tobacco curing. The College has 11/2 hectares under horticultural production. It is intended to do this on a more intensive scale to increase production yields by introducing crops grown under greenhouse conditions.

Maize is grown for staff and worker consumption and it is intended introduce dry beans. Water is a limiting factor to increasing farming activities; several boreholes supply the institution with water requirements. But these are low yielding and don’t lend themselves to any expansions. There is a lot of underground water but this comes in small pockets and the main limitation to exploitation of this important resource is two fold – distance from where it would be required and the source of power to drive pumps.

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