Our History
In the early 2000s, the Whitall family had a vision, and out of an empty patch of land of untouched fertile soil, Scimitar Farm was born. A lifelong dream project began with the clearing of land for future fields, drilling boreholes to source water, laying linings for reservoirs, erecting greenhouses and setting up electricity – laying the foundation for the colourful, efficient, fully functional and successful operation you see today. These humble beginnings provided the groundwork for the very first seedling to be planted for the very first harvest of Solidaga Tara Gold – the very first splash of colour to the world Scimitar envisioned.
Scimitar was built with all hands on deck – community being the nutrition of its growth. With the maiden voyage of flowers delivered in a single cab truck – to the fleet of cold trucks delivering a variety of species including Solidaga Golden Glory, Safari Sunset Protea, Liatris and Cinera (Eucalyptus) – locally as well as overseas – we stand together with pride in what we have achieved – a highly and efficient flower farm, sending colour out into the world.
Adhering to the wisdom of Stephen Hawking, “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change,” Scimitar embraced the ideals of adaptation by confronting the turmoil and uncertainty of 2020, facing borders closing and industry shutting down across the globe. With the infrastructure of greenhouses, pack sheds, cold rooms and irrigation, we decided to put extra energy and focus into our roots, supporting our local community with what we know – How to Grow.
We replaced some of the export flower crops with vegetables, open grass-lands were filled with cattle, granadilla trestles were expanded, fish ponds dug and we now have a thriving sustainable farm that supplies local markets, shops and lodges with farm-fresh produce.
Scimitar Farm is a community, the staff and their families a representation of the farm itself, holding the history and story of the farm in their hands. Working together and growing together ensures a wholesome, sustainable and positive environment, essentially creating a more colourful world, from our farm, to your table.
Our Future
Scimitar is striving towards an ever-growing holistic and sustainable farming operation, based on the foundations of community empowerment; cultivating a culture of consistency and care.
With adaptation and variety woven into our vision, we have curated a catalogue of produce from flowers and blueberries to quality farm-fresh vegetable production, bee-hives, free-range chickens, freshwater fish, granadillas, wheat, seed maize and so much more. An all inclusive, flexible, Zambian proud and passionately progressive farming community, we aim to provide the world with just that extra splash of colour.
Scimitar: “Creating A Colourful World”
Honouring the vision to create a colourful world, Scimitar has grown from humble beginnings and untouched soil, to a fully functioning farm offering a variety of products. Originally solely a flower farm, exporting a range of flora overseas filling the international market with the colours of Zambia, Scimitar planted itself firmly in the flower industry. With the hands of time requesting adaptation, Scimitar has modified its farming strategy to include fresh, nutritional produce, sharing its colourful products with the local market, from farm to table.
Built on the foundations of community support, ideas and seeds planted with local hands; harvested by local hearts – Scimitar’s success is made of the colourful characters of Zambia. Moving forward with the vision of holistic and sustainable farming, growing our produce range from flowers to vegetables, fruit, honey, free-range livestock, fish, wheat and so much more – we aim to maintain progress, providing proudly Zambian produce, from our hands to yours.