Our senior consultant together with our associates have extensive experience in the cultivation of the following crops and field plantations: Coffee, Sugarcane, citrus, tobacco, groundnuts, sorghum, cotton, soyabeans. In addition we have tropical/subtropical experience of dairying, beef production, pigs and poultry.

In addition our senior consultant formed an integral part of a team that took Zimbabwe from a being a non producer to become a major world supplier of paprika spice, producing 16% of the global trade in industrial paprika. We have a number of international associates and could assemble a team if required to do so.

Specific Examples of International work include...

• Tropical and subtropical Crops
• Agro Industry
• Vocational Training
• Pesticides
• Rural Development
  
  

Tropical and subtropical Crops

Cone Textile - Cotton Project
Dave was a critical member of the team at Agriconsult that was commissioned to complete two soil surveys in the Zambezi Valley, one in the Binga/Mlibizi area and the other in the Musengezi Mission Area. The aim of the study was to locate 30 000 ha of soil suitable for irrigation from the Zambezi River. This then resulted in a pilot cotton scheme at Mlibizi in north west Zimbabwe.
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Agro Industry

Hy Hy-Veld Seed Co - Technical Feasibility Capsicum oleo oleo-resin plant. – Zimbabwe.
Hy-Veld Seed Company commissioned the company to assess the suitability of Zimbabwe developing a paprika industry in Zimbabwe. Funding to build an oleo-resin plant was sought from the Commonwealth Development Corporation. Zimbabwe is became one of the worlds leading producers of paprika with an annual production estimated at around 10 000 tonnes. Dave was subsequently retained to procure growers and to service their crops to ensure a steady supply.

Estimation of fair compensation for the loss of use of a portion of Ndwizi farm - Selous
This study was commissioned by BHP Hartley platinum in October 1998. Ndwizi farm was owned by the Catholic Church. A tract of land was to be mined and an independent study on the economic losses.  Recommendations were made a suitable level of compensation. This involved evaluating the value of existing timber and grazing.
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Vocational Training

Zimbabwe Institute for Education With Production (ZIMFEP)
Agriconsult won a tender in June 1989 to prepare a feasibility study on nine farms and ranches owned by the Zimbabwe Institute for Education wit Production (ZIMFEP). Dave was a part of the team that worked on this project. The study made recommendations on a restructuring programme based on available resources with the aim of improving viability within the group.
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Pesticides

Usage of control release Carbosulphan
Investigation into the usage of control release Carbosulphan  at four selected Nurseries in Malawi. This was a 140 man hour project commissioned by Incitec Australia. This was a product stewardship issue and the client needed to assess if correct procedures and recommendations were being followed.
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Rural Development

Gatche Gatche – Kanyati – Resettlement and campfire Project evaluation
Dave in association with Agriconsult (Pvt) Ltd and Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners (Zimbabwe) was a team member for a 3 man month study in the early 1990s. The Terms of Reference was to evaluate the impact of haphazard settlement in Kanyati communal land in the Zambesi river valley. Tsetse fly had been eradicated from the area.

Smallholder Dry Areas Resource Management Project
In April 1996 GRM International Pty Ltd, Australia was successful in its tender to provide a project leader and regional facilitators for this project for the Zimbabwe government. Dave Blackwell during his directorship term at Agriconsult (Pvt) Ltd formed part of that tender and subsequently seconded two facilitators in southern Zimbabwe to work on this project. This was a 96-man month input. The project was funded by UNOPS.
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