By: Fundiswa Nkwanyana
South Africa’s small-scale farmers are important for food security and alleviating poverty yet many farming businesses are struggling to find land to work on and to access market opportunities.
Esisipho K is a KwaZulu Natal based livestock and vegetables farming business that is slowly overcoming ongoing challenges and thriving despite the odds.
“My passion for farming was ignited when I planted seedlings that I received for free from a grocery retailer. I planted them in my yard, and when I saw how well they grew, I was inspired to plant more,” said Nomfanelo Khanyile the founder Esisipho K.
In 2018, she started planting seedlings in her backyard as a hobby and in 2019 she resigned
from her job at a bank, to become a fulltime farmer. In her previous job, she worked closely with farmers and knew that farming is a lucrative business venture.
Her excitement for starting a farm was short-lived because she soon realized that she can’t continue farming in her backyard if she wants to grow her business. “I approached a chief in my area, and I leased 15 hectares of land from him which helped me grow my business,” she said. The community fully supported her farm because she employed them, and they purchased her vegetables.
When the demand for her crops increased, she applied for a loan which helped her buy 45 hectares of land which she currently runs her farm on. “Paying back the loan is difficult because my running cost are high, but I had no choice but to get a loan,” she said. On her farm, Khanyile grows cabbages, green pepper, chillies, butternut, spinach, beans, and carrots. To diversify income streams, she added pigs and cows on her farm.
“Having livestock is great for business but outsourcing an abattoir is costly and I’ve had bad experiences with abattoirs,” she said. She now uses an abattoir that is 300 kilometers away with high transport costs because the local one she was using was stealing from her. In order to retain a good relationship with the retailers she supplies to, she is forced to carry the high costs until she has funding to build an abattoir on her farm.
The challenges that Esisipho K is facing are common as small-scale farmers are struggling to gain foothold in the sector. They are not favored by the current structure of commodity in agriculture and this puts them at a disadvantage. “Channels to markets are tightly controlled and monopolized to create barriers to entry for newcomers and access to finance is both limited and competitive,” said Mpumelelo Ncwadi, a farming business mentor who has been helping small scale farmers for years.
Ncwadi added that access to working capital and appropriate technology to manage finances are
some of the many challenges facing small scale farmers. Luckily Khanyile worked in the financial sector and is technologically savvy which helps her better deal with these challenges.
Despite the challenges, Khanyile is proud of the growth of her farming business. “I enjoy spending my days watering my crops and feeding my cattle and I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” she said. The farming industry is playing a huge role in food security and there is an opportunity for more farmers to get involved. “I encourage other entrepreneurs to join the farming sector because despite the challenges, it’s a lucrative industry to be in,” concluded Khanyile.
