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SHOWS: MALMESBURY, SOUTH AFRICA (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF MAIZE FIELD 2. FARMEr AND AFRICAN LANGUAGES LECTURER, ALBERT ZINHANGA AND HIS COLLEAGUES INSPECTING MAIZE CROP 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FARMER AND AFRICAN LANGUAGES LECTURER, ALBERT ZINHANGA, SAYING: "The land was usable but it was not fertile, so what we did if you look at the type of land that we have here -- it's a bit of sand soil, which does not have much nutrients, so you need to add value to the land so that you could farm it, that's what basically we did we added value to the land -- the nutrients by putting chicken manure, cow dung manure trying to improve the soil, but the land was not useless." 4. VARIOUS OF FARMERS PUTTING MAIZE IN SACKS 5. FARMERS IN MAIZE FIELD 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BATSIRAI MAGUNJE, PHYSICIST AND MATErIAL SCIENCE ENGINEER FROM ZIMBABWE SAYING: "We have plans to bring on board South Africans who are really willing to learn from us, so every window is open and there are no boundaries when you look at the future, there's no limit, we can refill the silos of South Africa." 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WALTER CHIMANGA KHUMALO, FARMER AND ENGINEER, SAYING: "There is a huge difference, if I spend a day in the engineering sector, its stressing, its highly demanding, but when you come to the farming side of things, it's enjoyable ,its stress relieving, we have a strong passion for farming. Just seeing crops growing just makes us happy." ZEERUST, SOUTH AFRICA (FILE) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 7. VARIOUS OF COWS 8. PARCHED LAND 9. COWS WALKING GOKWE, ZIMBABWE (FILE) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 10. VARIOUS OF FARMERS CHECKING ON FAILED MAIZE CROP 11. VARIOUS OF HARVESTED MAIZE MALMESBURY, SOUTH AFRICA (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 12. VARIOUS OF FARMERS REMOVING MAIZE STALKS 13. (SOUNDBBITE) (English) JULIUS SHAMU, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ZIMBABWE EXCELLENCE AWARDS SAYING: "If you are living in a certain city you have to make use of what is there, so these guys made a unique success story whereby they actually approached the owner of the land and asked him 'could we farm here'. They didn't say let us go back to Zimbabwe and ask for land in Zimbabwe, they are working here, their families are here, they need to provide for their families and they need to be recognized. What they are doing is not about -- 'can I go back to my country?' But 'can I contribute to the city where I am staying? Can I do something better for the city'." 14. FARMERS WALKING FROM MAIZE FIELD 15. MAIZE ROASTING 16. FARM WORKERS ROASTING MAIZE STORY: A weekend trip to Malmesbury last year, turned out to be a life changing event for five Zimbabwean academics, when they came across this plot of land in South Africa's Western Cape Province. The friends were out shopping for an ox at the time - a tradition they shared back in their homeland where they would buy livestock and share the meat. Albert Zinhanga, Batsirai Magunje, Walter Khumalo, Masimba Paradza and Doctor Ignatious Matimati noticed the land and on enquiring further, landed an opportunity to farm on it for a year, for free. The aspiring farmers only had to pay for the electricity they used and were given full access to farming equipment. Growing up in rural Zimbabwe, farming was not new for the men as they routinely did small subsistence farming back home, but they focused more on academics than careers in agriculture. "The land was usable but it was not fertile, so what we did if you look at the type of land that we have here -- it's a bit of sand soil, which does not have much nutrients, so you need to add value to the land so that you could farm it, that's what basically we did we added value to the land -- the nutrients by putting chicken manure, cow dung manure trying to improve the soil, but the land was not useless," said Albert Zinhanga. But it is the maize crop, a staple here and in Zimbabwe which was the most exciting for them to grow. "We have plans to bring on board South Africans who are really willing to learn from us, so every window is open and there are no boundaries when you look at the future, there's no limit, we can refill the silos of South Africa," said Batsirai Magunje, one of the farmers. "There is a huge difference, if I spend a day in the engineering sector, its stressing, its highly demanding, but when you come to the farming side of things, it's enjoyable, its stress relieving, we have a strong passion for farming. Just seeing crops growing just makes us happy," added Walter Chimanga Khumalo, another farmer. South Africa last year record its lowest annual rainfall levels since comprehensive records began in 1904 as an El Nino-driven drought rips through the region, putting millions at risk of food shortage.