Timber iQ December 2018 - January 2019 // Issue: 41 | Page 53

WOOD WISE
Cutting high up in the Nyanga mountains in Zimbabwe’s
Eastern Highlands.
GROWING TREES AND USING TIMBER WISELY
Saziya gives his business partner and co-director of Tsanga
Timbers, John Saunders, the credit for using timber better.
“John really opened my eyes to the potential money that
value-added timber has. Logs only provide a small part of
the value. Only once you cut the timber and produce
products from it, do you unlock the real value of timber,”
he says.
As part of the drive to use timber sustainably, Saziya and
Saunders also use a unique way to grow their own timber.
“Our own timber costs us less, it bypasses the difficulties of
Zimbabwe’s land battles, and ensures a stable timber
supply that will add a sustainable basis for our timber
business,” Saziya says.
The PanPri and Tsanga Timbers team supply landowners
with seeds and seedlings that are grown on private
properties. Once the trees are mature, the company gets
first option to buy the logs. This methods bypasses
Zimbabwe’s land battles and gives endless access to ready
land for planting.
SAWMILLING WITH WOOD-MIZER
When Saziya first started his business, he had one team that
moved around to find trees to cut. The three-man team
used one sawmill and chainsaw operator to cut and mill the
timber and one tractor driver to drag the logs to the
Wood-Mizer mills. Since then, Panpri’s team has expanded
to 30 employees and three tractors.
Tsanga Timbers’ team has also expanded and now
consists of 35 workers, including three who are dedicated
to timber milling as well as road construction and repairs.
Communities now have a reliable partner to ensure safe
and good quality roads that has contributed towards
improved lives for all. Tsanga Timbers’ factory employs an
additional 12 workers for a total workforce of almost 80
workers, with Saziya’s businesses in total slashing
unemployment in Zimbabwe.
Saziya recommends using a blocking method to produce
timber for the Wood-Mizer sawmills. “Don’t try and
transport logs but rather work in-field and cut blocks that
are easier and cheaper to transport. I also use petrol
Wood-Mizer sawmills because they can move to where the
trees are. The thin kerf blades that Wood-Mizer sawmills
use also waste less, which all save costs and give
more profit.”
www.timberiq.co.za
Rebuilding roads with timber milled on a Wood-Mizer.
CHALLENGES, CHANGED LIVES AND
THE FUTURE
Learning to steer around the challenges that sawmillers
deal with in Zimbabwe has also ensured Saziya’s success
– Zimbabwe’s land battles, the access to and the pricing of
timber owned by large timber companies in the country,
the influx of sawmilling companies from China and the lack
of foreign currency are just some of the issues they face.
Despite this, Saziya’s business has flourished – the
successes from it has afforded him the opportunity to build
schools, start farming enterprises, build roads, uplift
communities, reforest land and ensure education abroad for
his children.
About the future, Saziya has high hopes for Zimbabwe.
“We face many challenges and my wish is that we as
Zimbabweans build a future that everyone can be proud of.
We’re also ploughing more funds into the private school to
improve the facilities and accommodate more than the 200
children that already attend the school.
“We’re also very proud of our relationship with the
Zimbabwean National Parks with a recent purchase of more
chainsaws allowing the company to clear out invasive
species to make way for timber that will be planted,”
Saziya says.
A WOOD-MIZER PERSPECTIVE
Wood-Mizer’s sawmilling equipment allow sawmillers
to remain competitive in a fast-changing timber
processing landscape. In Zimbabwe, timber is becoming
scarcer and competition for the resource is increasing.
To start a timber processing business is also expensive,
highlights Etienne Nagel of Wood-Mizer.
Nagel continues, “Wood-Mizer’s portable sawmilling
equipment make it easy for sawmillers in the country to
stay ahead of the competition by cutting close to the
resource, reduce costs and make a bigger profit. The use
of thin-kerf narrow bandsaw technology also wastes
less with more timber available to sell.
“Wood-Mizer’s affordably priced sawmills also reduce
the entry costs associated with starting a sawmill. Freely
available sawn timber makes manufacturing easy and
creates downstream jobs. Sawmillers, their families and
the community benefit as a result.”
// DECEMBER 2018 / JANUARY 2019 51