By: Fundiswa Nkwanyana
Nowadays there is a growing trend of thriving farming businesses that were started by entrepreneurs who fell in love with farming by growing crops in their backyard.
Most South African homes have a small food garden in their backyard and many entrepreneurs are finding business opportunities from this. One such entrepreneur is Bennedicter Mhlongo, a commercial farmer in Mpumalanga that started a farming business in his backyard.
Getting started
Farming is a lucrative business venture that contributes positively towards food security, job creation and economic growth. Mhlongo’s passion to become a farmer started when he was growing vegetables in his backyard.
His community members were in awe of his flourishing food garden and started buying from him. “When I realized that farming could be a profitable business venture, I resigned from my job as a nurse and focused on farming, “he said.
In 2013, he started a farming business called Benica Projects where he grows tomatoes, peppers, green chilies, cabbage, and spinach. Transitioning from a small backyard farm to 10 hectares of land was not easy. “I struggled to find land to work on because it was during the time when land ownership debates were heated and I had to ensure I get permission from the rightful owner,” he said.
When Mhlongo finally purchased land, he started off by fencing it to restrict trespassers, conducting in-depth research on which crops to grow and hiring staff. A key lesson he learnt was that it’s important to hire energetic staff because farming is a labour-intensive sector.
A farm needs water to thrive and sourcing water is a challenge that most farmers face. To ensure that his farm has a consistent supply of water, Mhlongo had to invest in a borehole.
Multiple income streams
Benica Projects has two local fruit and vegetable shops that sell their fresh produce to the public and resellers. By cutting off the middleman, they increases profits and reinvests in the business.
Another interesting way the farm makes money is through tourism. “We are in partnership with The Timbavati Foundation which has lodges that buy from us, and they also bring their guests to visit the farm,” he said. The exposure the farm gets from local and international tourists helps to advertise the farm and attracts new customers.
Benica Projects also has a student training partnership with the University of Mpumalanga, Tshwane University of Technology, and Ehlanzeni TVET College. Every year students come to the farm to get practical training and work experience which they need to graduate.
Meeting food safety and hygiene standards
The risk of farm produce encountering contamination from farm to shelves is high and farmers are responsible for ensuring that their produce does not get infected. It’s important that farmers comply with food and safety standards as this prevents food poisoning.
Farmers often overlook the importance of complying and getting audited. “My farm complies with the perishable products standards act of 1990 and because of this, we only use registered agrochemical sprays on our produce,” he said.
Benica Projects was certified by Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) which is a voluntary certification program which does verification through an audit that checks that sound food safety practices are being used. This helps the farm comply and reduce the risk of contaminating produce that will be consumed.
Overcoming challenges
Farming is challenging because there are elements that are beyond a farmer’s control and over the years Benica Projects had to deal with bad weather conditions, loadshedding and disease outbreak. “It’s been difficult because the war in Russia led to an increase in the cost of fertilizers and when there is loadshedding, I can’t run my irrigation system without electricity, “he said.
Despite these challenges the farm is growing and thriving because Mhlongo is resilient, innovative, and passionate about farming which helps him overcome challenges even when times get tough.
Truly inspiring story, thanks for bringing it to us. I used to work for the now defunked airline Comair Ltd and have been struggling to find employment. I fell in love with gardening during the covid lockdown. I am now looking to emulate this story and going commercial, but have no delusions on the level of difficulty and challenges ahead. Right now, I’m just providing for my family and neighbors…and just taking it one step at a time
Indeed this is a motivating experience and undertaking. I resigned in 2012 from Gauteng Department of Education as a Deputy Education Specialist and went for farming in Bushbuckridge. I’m still struggling because I left my 5 Baxter land and rented from local residents each year because if lack of water on my land. They use canals for furrow irrigation under Dingleydale irrigation scheme. There are so many challenges. I lost since 2013 up until this year. However now that I have decided to go back to my plot and start all over again, taking the challenge of water unavailability head on, I am energetically looking forward to harvesting my watermelon in December 2022. They are highly promising. I irrigate manually using my 3 ton truck. I draw water with a petrol water pumping machine from the river which is 600m away from my farm . I transport that water to my plot in a 2000l Jojo water tank. I started in September but only watered once. I use round holes with heaps. I use five litres of water for each hole. Guess what!! I only watered once and my watermelon melon plants are starting to bear fruits and are very energetic. The rain came to my rescue. Today I’ve been planting Okra, Hubbard squash pumpkin, and cabbage. I have also planted Cassava on another portion. Before the end of this week I’ll be planting Sweet potato while waiting for my tomato seedlings to reach maturity. I’m optimistic that I’ll each my target of R200 000 turnover in February as soon as I harvest tomato. Im impressed by the borehole approach on your publication. I’ve been thinking of it hence I went back to my dry land to solve the water problem. I asked for borehole sponsor to no avail. No response even from one company. I therefore choose crops that can thrive through rain water. I hope to get the borehole not later than December or February as,soon as I sell my watermelon and or Tomato. Thank you do much for sharing your farming experience with us. I’m also in Mpumalanga.
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