Book-keeping Vital for Business

Above: Sithabisiwe Vundla, Chair person of Kirimuva garden.

Running a sustainable market garden business requires up to date book-keeping to track expenditure, says Sithabisiwe Vundla, Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Development Democracy Trust’s (ZDDT) Kirimuva community garden project in Ward 19, Old Pumula.
 
Vundla said book-keeping helps garden members to provide practical information such as the date when crops were planted, the type of plants, what households consumed, donations made by garden members to the less privileged in the community, expenditure used to maintain the garden and the balance of money they have saved.

“For example, in the month of May, my household consumed tomatoes worth $4, green vegetables worth $5, which we received from the garden. I donated tomatoes worth $2 to friends and $1 worth of vegetables. All this information is documented in this book,” she said.
 
“For my expenditure, I used $10 for rentals, $5 for electricity, $3 went towards my garden subscription and $5 was for booster monies. I used a total of $23 and this money is recorded in the book,” Vundla added.

Above: Geraldine (left) and Mike Roche (right), founders of Sally Foundation.

Mike Roche, the Co-Founder of the Sally Foundation, lauded the community for maintaining their records regarding their Kirimuva garden project.

He said:

"This may be our third visit to this garden, and it is looking so beautiful. I am pleased with what the garden members have done including the improvements made to the garden. It’s pleasing to see work that is done because when you are based a long way from the project, you don’t really know what is happening.
 
"So, to see this, and the pride the members have in the garden, it is encouraging and good to see. We are trying to help people come up with
a project where they can sustain themselves."
 
Sally Foundation partners ZDDT through an arrangement with the Global Development Group in Australia.

Above: Produce from the garden.