Tanya Spandla, a Zimbabwean woman based in Germantown, Maryland, United States, is taking care of Zimbabweans’ huge appetite for traditional foods.
Spandla says she got her green fingers from her parents who imparted her the passion to grow vegetables. She has now used those skills to venture into a lucrative business.
Spandla says she is now catering for Zimbabweans and other Africans who enjoy organic vegetables from home like muboora or pumpkin leaves and others.
"I credit my passion to my parents who instilled in me that you eat what you grow from your own garden and I investigated about how to get some land to farm on and was able to rent some and am now growing pumpkin leaves and other delicacies that are a big hit with Zimbabwean and other Africans,” said Mrs Spandla.
Mrs. Spandla said although she has a full-time job, growing vegetables is what she loves doing during her free time.
"I enjoy farming and when I am tending to the soil and the crops I feel at peace and reconnected (to my passion). I also love sharing the fruits of my sweat with others in the diaspora," said Mrs. Spandla.
She urged other Zimbabweans in the diaspora to explore ways in which they can do something similar if they have a passion for farming as "it’s rewarding both financially and therapeutically."
Mrs. Spandla said she started feeling the itch to farm a few years ago and when she got the opportunity to realise her dream she went for it and has never looked back.
She markets her vegetables through word of mouth and is in the process of setting up a website and other social media platforms to market her wares.
