#TEEP: Celebrating Mavis Nduchwa, an Agricultural Entrepreneur from Botswana and beneficiary of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme 2015

The year 2015 will forever hold a significant memory in the lives of 1000 Entrepreneurs from 54 African Countries in many years to come.

Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme, a progressive development programme for entrepreneurs in Africa was created by the highly recognized philanthropist Tony O Elumelu,MFR 

Tony Elumelu, the founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation portrayed in his words that Africa will grow with this initiative as he invests into the lives of 1000 Entrepreneurs from different background with different business ideas.

TREND WITH ME weekly as we engage you with true life stories of the 1000 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme beneficiaries...#TEEP #TEEP2015

Mavis Nduchwa was born in the city of Francistown, Botswana 32 years ago and this is her story as she unfolds...

Growing up i have tried a number of things, i have done social work, media and have abundance of experience in hospitality managing 5 star lodges however through this journey i have always found that the only thing that i always came back to was farming. My family has always been involved in farming, it started with my grandparents owning a farm which is still in existence.

Each time I take a break from work and I am not scheduled for travelling I found myself heading back to the farm getting my hands dirty thus I found myself finally reckoned with what lies in me and this brought about the existence of Cabana Farms.

Chabana farms is a family business. We do integrated farming, poultry, piggery, goats, beef and vegetable production.

Overtime our biggest challenge has always been funding, as a start up no one believes your idea will make it big nor sustain the test of time. Till this day we are still proving that we indeed can make a big difference , and that we are here to make a difference.

My #TEEP story started when a friend and manager of mine came to visit from Uganda. I took her to the farm and after she experienced what we do, she recommended and advised me to enter for the Tony Elumelu programme. I was reluctant at first but later gave it a thought, a try and forgot about it.

Months later I got news that I had been selected as one of the beneficiaries of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme,  I will have the opportunity to be mentored, travel to Nigeria for bootcamp and will also receive a seed capital for my business. Those were the best news ever to receive.

On getting to start the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme mentorship,  I  was assigned a mentor, Emmenette Mason. She made a great impact on me by always been there to listen to all my ideas bad or good and set me on the right business accruement over the period of  mentorship.

#TWM: if you could be or do anything else, what will that be?

If i could do anything else it will be my second love, that is Hospitality.


#TWM: if you can change anything in the past, what will that be?

I would inspire more energy in youth, take away the perception that farming is for old and boring people.

#TWN: Who has been a person of influence to you so far?

I have a manager based in Uganda, she is the reason I ended up in Teep. She is my hard rock. Her name is Alice Kibombo

#TWM: If you could have dinner with five famous people from all over the world, who would they be?

Tony Elumelu, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Kagame, Ian Khama and Barack Obama


#TWM: What has been the happiest moment of your life where your work is concerned?

Happiest moment was when we got our own land as Chabana farms.

#TWM: What has been the saddest moment of your life where your work is concerned?

The saddest is when no one believes in your idea, but we have passed that stage now.


#TWM: How would you like to be remembered?

I would like to be remembered as the one who brought about change. The one that contributed to the countries growth and economy.

#TWM: Married life so far...and how it affects your works.

Luckily i have managed to balance both marriage and work. I am married to a civil engineer who is also my business partner and we have a 1 year old son.

Our future aspirations is to see a more sustainable Chabana farms and also create employment opportunities to a large number of people in our community.

Our major milestone to achieve with Teep Seed is to build a milling plant to mill maize and package as well.