Kudakwashe Kudenga

Kudakwashe Kudenga is a farmer by profession and an entrepreneur. He holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Agriculture and Land Management from the University of West England. He completed his studies in 2004 after which he worked for Dairy Crest, the second largest dairy company in the UK, as a graduate trainee for two years. In 2006 he returned to Zimbabwe to oversee operations at F.G Rhodesdale farm located in Marondera.
 
Kudakwashe is currently implementing a mixed farming programme comprising field crops, horticulture and livestock management. He was awarded the overall Young Commercial Farmer of the Year award for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016) by the Confederation of Young Farmers in Zimbabwe. He is also currently serving as the president of the Next Generation of the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show Society. Kudakwashe is now venturing into value addition and is currently developing a brand.
 
Founders’ Day 2019
 
Every year on the second Tuesday of the first term, we commemorate our founders. The event starts with a Chapel service followed by tree planting by form one students. A former student is invited to grace the occasion. In 2019 we had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Kudakwashe Kudenga. 
 
Kuda's Speech to the Watershed students. 
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. I am Kudakwashe Kudenga and I am a farmer and agriprenuer by profession and most of all, an Old Owl. First of all, I would like to thank Watershed College for inviting me to speak at the Founders Day of 2019 and for the education, friendship, life skills, memories, foundation and pride that I gained from when I first enrolled as a young boy in 1995.
 
Talking about my experience at Watershed College is easy and personally, I have too many memories that have been etched into my mind and will live with me for the rest of my life. I would like to think of my time at Watershed as some of best years of my life and at times I wish I could go back and re-live those days. When I first enrolled, there was a house which I don’t know if it still exists, known as Junior Hostel where most form ones would go into for a year then eventually move to their big hostels. However, I can’t talk about that, because I was one of the lucky few that went straight into the main hostels being the mighty Chinyika House. When we first got there we got a baptism of fire as we quickly realised that we were no longer at the top of the food chain and at break time we had to go to war especially on Fridays for the sweet tasting donuts soon after the seniors had their lion’s share after the famous war cry of those days ‘hondo'. We formed lasting bonds at that time as we learnt to work together in order to ensure we got our share. Back in those days we had to earn our respect in our house and that we did as we made contributions to a lot competitions in both sports and general knowledge in order to contribute to the Dux Trophy at the end of the year and as I look back now, I see how those experiences helped me through life and are still helping me now.
 
Going to classes was always a joy especially if I had studied well and even when I hadn’t the teachers were quick to correct me, which speaks volumes of the leadership and school spirit that recognised that detention and extra work would straighten someone out and it sure did. I was a sporty young man as well, gaining provincial colours in athletics and basketball and national colours in rugby. I also think I would have excelled in swimming if it wasn’t for my friends teasing me about being in the tight swimming trunk. I went through form 1 to 4 between the sports field, classes and come 1998 I had finished my ‘O’ Levels and was at the brink of the biggest decision of my life at the time. A level or an Agriculture course. 
 
My decision however to do the agric course at the time came with a lot of ridicule as most people thought that the people that took the agric course were in simple terms not skilled enough to do ‘A' levels. For me it was a conscious decision as it was my passion and I had done well at ‘O’ Level. I had grown up going to our rural homestead over the holidays and was privileged enough to see my grandfather and mother win Seedco competitions with their maize crops. So when my parents bought a farm in 1991, I knew that was my passion. I then did my diploma in agriculture and acquired a distinction which gave me credit with the university that watershed was affiliated to known as Hartbury College in Gloucester, England. This meant that I could do my degree in two years instead of three and sure enough by 2003 I had graduated with an (hon) degree in Agriculture and Land Management. I would like to talk about my diploma days at Watershed as for me that was the foundation that I’m standing on right now. 
I remember those days I think we used to be 17 or so in the class and we were course 9. I remember the first day we got to class there was the year on year tradition where we had to plunge into the slurry pit and considering there were course 8 students to ensure we had a full body and head submission, we truly were initiated. We did projects such as dairy, pigs, beef cattle production, horticulture, tobacco, maize etc.. of which today I still remember Ms Mujoma saying, ‘don’t worry they will grow’ as I nursed my cabbage plot. I remember taking the steers which we fed for 3 months in the pens going to Surrey and seeing the results. I remember the alternating two weeks where we would be in the class doing theory for the first two weeks and then be stationed at various farms for two weeks, of which I must say the two week practicals gave us the opportunity to learn hands on how a farm is run. 
 
Fast forward to 2019 and I look at the years after leaving high school and I see the following achievements:
 
Diploma in Agriculture Watershed College
 
(Hons) Degree in Agriculture – Hartbury College
 
Apprentice at the 2nd largest dairy company in England
 
Running of two farms totalling 2000 hectares of land and doing beef production of over 1000 cattle, chickens 20 000, tobacco 80 hectares, maize 300, soya 80, greenhouse production 2 hectares, piggery, fish, cashew and macadamia nuts.
 
Young farmer of the year 2 years running
 
Trustee of the confederation of young farmer’s clubs
 
Winner of the global shapers award in agriculture run by the Higher Life Foundation
 
Runner up for the Seedco 11 tonne club with a yield of 21.86 tonnes per hectare which is the second largest yield in Africa.
 
Brand ambassador for Seedco with billboards across the country 
 
Hosting of various field days that ministers and the current president have attended.
 
I have been on television and radio shows a number of times and featured in a number of magazines
 
I have travelled to a number of countries to research in my field and I have been asked to consult on various projects in those countries.
 
I’m in the process of setting up my own brand. 
 
All these achievements and more have been because my foundation was right and during my main formative years when I was finding myself at Watershed College, I got the mentorship and guidance that has lead me to be where I am. Most of all, I learnt to go out there to grind and never give up. I have had a rough time on occasion with people not understanding my vision or not thinking I work hard enough but one thing that my teachers can tell you is that I always used to be cool, unphased and almost seemingly not under any pressure. Little be known I used to put in that extra work when I needed to, I used to wake up at 4.30 everyday in pursuit of my dreams and sleep at midnight most nights. I always did extra sit ups and press ups and I’m empashising this point because everything that the school is asking you to do, go at it with the right and positive attitude because it will leave you in good stead for the future challenges of this world. And if you learn to manage yourself now and find your passion, go at it like your life depended on it with a duck approach – cool on the surface but paddling the heck underneath. 
 
Finally I would like to encourage the students to not only concentrate on their school work and sports but to also look for something that interests them, a solution to a problem, for example, hopefully a Zimbabwean and African problem, then create something to solve that problem. It’s high time we stopped complaining and become the solution. We have all these natural resources and are happy to be selling them in their raw forms, yet we should be asking ourselves why we can’t make our own planes and boats? I am in the agricultural sector so I ask why are we not making our own tractors and harvesters? It all starts from our foundation and getting to understand the concepts you are taught in maths, science and physics to name a few, will give you the background to being your own master. The sports and extra curricular activities will give you the ability to juggle what life throws at you. That being said, I wish you all the success in your school activities and in the future. Remember ‘fortune favours the brave’ God bless and thank you!