Unlocking agricultural potential in Zimbabwe

Sondelani is specialised in building agricultural value chains that unlock Africa’s productive potential , with a particular focus on small-scale farmers. Their mission is to empower farmers, strengthen value chains, and promote sustainable agriculture across Africa. Sondelani and PUM have been cooperating over the past six years, during which the company has transformed and grown significantly.

Sondelani operates in the sectors of agriculture, food processing, and retail, providing comprehensive solutions and inputs to farmers through their flagship brand, Hamara Group. They are a licensed broiler and layer breeder, operate hatcheries, a feed mill, abattoirs, and a tomato processing plant. The company has made a significant impact by creating business ecosystems with strong social components: they have trained over 20.000 small-scale farmers and they also operate two educational departments. The Ebenezer in-house training institute combines content with the personal development of young individuals interested in agriculture. The Eagle initiative facilitates access to improved learning experiences through relevant, affordable, accessible, and responsible education to children from low-income households.

Long-term relationship

In 2017, Sondelani contacted PUM for the first time. Expert Simon van Bodegraven was matched with the client: “The challenging request was to establish a retail organisation similar to Aldi. After several discussions with CEO Peter Cunningham, it became evident that the assignment had a nuanced aspect: setting up sales outlets for the harvest of local farmers. Sondelani’s vision was to uplift people from poverty by demonstrating that an agricultural profession could provide a sustainable livelihood with a decent income. The objective was to develop an attractive, distinctive, and commercially agile strategy.”

During his second visit in 2018, Sondelani had expanded from one to three sales outlets. Together with the team, Simon worked on further refinement of the model for various distribution channels, including food stores, farmer stores, and agents. Subsequently, a hybrid formula was created, consolidating different product assortments.

Country coordinator Carel van Oosterzee continues: “In 2019, the establishments and storage facility were plundered during the Zimbabwean fuel protests. Despite this setback, the company persevered by adopting consignment-based sales to maintain cash flow and became completely operational again. PUM expert Albert den Hollander advised Sondelani on how to further expand the supply chain. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021, regular online sessions were held to discuss developments and make necessary adjustments. Various components were established, such as a database, reporting mechanisms, and operational overviews. The number of sales outlets continued to increase.”

Organisational structure

In 2022, Simon visited the client twice. Together with Sondelani he made several adjustments to their formula and organisational structure to accommodate projected growth more effectively: “The organisation grew to ten sales outlets and six agencies, spanning North and South Zimbabwe. Additionally, an expansion with a similar organisation in Zambia called Heartlands was established, with the eventual goal of integration and synergy.” In September 2022, a Senior Management Team was formed. Simon: “My main part in this was to focus on organisational culture and its impact on strategy execution. We drafted a three-year rolling strategy plan to better anchor the organisation’s plans and ideas.”

In April 2023, Simon was again in Zimbabwe, this time to collaborate with the client on implementing the organisational structure, centred around the integration of Sondelani and Heartlands, and facilitating growth opportunities. A proposal for organisational adjustments was developed and will be implemented in the coming 1,5 years. Communication uniformity was improved with a universal Score Card and department-specific tools, enhancing transparency and consistency.

App platform

Sondelani sees the future of tech development in Africa as a solution for providing its formula at many more small scale producers across the continent and it has also developed and implemented an app platform. This integrated platform enables both individual farmers and farming communities to join and benefit from streamlined procurement, production, and sales processes. The successful implementation of the app and its potential to make a significant difference in the farming sector are supported by practical examples and positive expectations. Carel concludes: “Currently, a trading platform is being developed for the app in which users, can offer and use services. This will open new opportunities for growth and innovation. It will enable Sondelani to further realise its vision of uplifting farmers from poverty and promoting productive potential in the agricultural sector.”

Enhance impact

Sondelani deeply appreciates the partnership with PUM and looks forward to continuing the collaboration for years to come. According to Peter Cunningham, CEO of Sondelani, “The contribution of PUM experts has been a game changer in creating our framework, impacting thousands of lives and driving our company’s growth. The involvement of experts like Simon, shaping our expansion, leadership, strategy and accountability has also led to the progress of numerous SMEs in our ecosystem. As we plan for the future, we believe that partnering with large companies to integrate small businesses into their value chains could enhance PUM’s impact even more.” In the years to come, PUM will continue to collaborate with Sondelani in different areas of expertise, continuing to contribute to unlocking local potential and entrepreneurship.