Porta Farm began as an informal settlement outside Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare when several thousand Zimbabweans were moved from their homes in Mbare in 1991. This move was supposed to be temporary, but 13 years later these people are still there. Fortunately, the people of Porta Farm are resilient and industrious and have built homes, schools and shops. They also have a flourishing vegetable garden that is cultivated by the handicapped children in the village. They have also started a tiny papermaking facility, which is hidden at the back of the village.

Papermaking at Porta Farm

A group of widowed women and their families craft unique, handmade papers at Porta Farm. By doing this they create financial independence and environmental awareness within their communities. They use biodegradable materials such as river reed, elephant grass, wild fig, maize residue, cotton, banana trees, corn husks, water hyacinth and sun hemp to make the paper. The paper is lignin free, acid free and PH neutral.

Porta Farm and Zizini

Zizini recently heard about the paper products being created at Porta Farm and has started selling a wide variety of the products, including:

1.Large and small albums
2.Notebooks
3.Bookmarks
4.Art paper

We feel honored to promote and Support the Porta farm products!