Executive Head: Cloud and Cybersecurity - Liquid Telecom Zambia
Oct 24, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
BUYING A COW
The last thread inspired a lot of interest BUT PLEASE dont go buy a cow just yet.
The thread below looks into what you should be looking for when buying your first cow.
This is general advice not breed specific advice.
1. When to buy
The dry season is the best time to buy a potential cow.
Our environment is one of feast or famine, food is either in abundance or scarce.
How an animal copes with scarcity is a key variable. In any head the animals that look fat in October are your target.
Oct 22, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
CATTLE AS AN INVESTMENT VEHICLE
When my first child was born it dawned on me that I needed a plan on how to best secure her future.
I looked at the various investment products on the market and they all had one thing in common none provided long term security.
The instruments in Kwacha were varied but yielded far below our volatile rate of inflation.
Insurance policies did not factor potential increases in fees.
The USD denominated offshore instruments gave returns under 5% with no guarantees of yield.
Oct 22, 2021 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Private School Fees in Zambia
Musikili Charges $3,780 a term for day scholar and $4,200 for boarding.
Pre school at AISL is $6,000 per annum.
Oct 22, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
MY AGRIC STORY P. 3 THE ANGONI
My dairy nightmare led me to an understanding of cross breeds.
Some of the dairy animals I purchased did better than others and after some enquiries I discovered some of the animals were Angoni x freisien crosses.
This led me to Angoni cattle
The Angoni are known for being particularly hardy and when bred for milk can be decent milkers.
They are hardly, can withstand the harsh periods between August and November with little rain.
They are tick resistant including diseases such as heart water etc
Oct 22, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
MY AGRIC STORY PT 2. VEGETABLES
I started with cabbages and at K10 a cabbage the price looked very attractive.
You could fit almost 100k cabbages in 1ha. The problem is it's not that simple.
Number of cabbages in a ha depends greatly on the variety and head size.
PROBLEM #1. On the local market the bigger the head the higher price it fetches.
BUT the bigger heads also typically the longer maturity and the more expensive the seed for that variety.
Furthermore different varieties have different target markets. Not all cabbages are equal
Oct 22, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
MY AGRIC STORY
I started with dairy animals and quicky learnt the hard way dairy is expensive.
I came across some cheap cows and jumped in head first.
PROBLEM #1: Feeding
Dairy cows EAT in large quantities and need a lot of space. Bales are not an option, you need real grass
PROBLEM #2: Dairy animals are fragile and fickle. They are very susceptible to tick borne diseases, mastitis and only produce enough when fed a balanced diet.
If pure milk volumes are affected by many variables including breed and temperature
The Angoni are known for being particularly hardy and when bred for milk can be decent milkers.