Mushroom growing has been identified by the South African Farmers Association, and the government as one of the key agricultural sectors.
However, it has been noted with concern that most farmers were reluctant to venture into the trade due to lack of information, and financial muscle.
South Africa produces over 21 000 tonnes of mushrooms per year, and the harvest is exported mostly to neighbouring countries, including Namibia and Mauritius.
However, the mushroom industry in Africa’s largest economy does not have many players involved as most farmers are reluctant to venture into it due to a lack of information on access to its market.
To encourage farmers and small businesses to venture into mushroom farming, South Africa’s Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) hosted a webinar session last week on mushroom farming exclusively as a business model.
The panelists during the session were; the managing director of Tropical Mushrooms, Peter Nyathi; managing director and owner of Mushroom Guru, Craig Fourie and a private consultant, Susan Koch.
The trio shared its own journey in the mushroom market and economic opportunities available in the industry. They encouraged farmers and the general public to look into mushroom farming as a business model.
Nyathi’s Tropical Mushrooms farm, which is situated in Magalies and has been operating for the past 22 years. He admitted that the entry level into mushrooming growing – including capital expenses – and technical knowledge was one of the limiting factors.
“Unlike overseas, here we have to be knowledgeable to make our own growing medium and you have to also have the knowledge to grow mushrooms,” he said.
“It also requires you to have enough capital to build the two separate entities – manufacturing and agriculture -, and that creates a barrier for many people to enter.”
Nyathi continued; “Overseas, they have big companies that make the growing medium and everyone else would buy from them and grow mushrooms. It’s a bit easier and very effective, in terms of the quality of your growing medium.
“(However, in South Africa), individually, we don’t have enough capital and the industry has a lot of instability in terms of production consistency, due to that.”
However, Nyathi is confident that this can be changed.
“It needs someone, somewhere to have capital,” adding that the mushroom market was fairly open, except when one intends to participate in the chain supermarket.
Chain market products must have the necessary quality.
Nyathi told participants that through funding from South Africa’s Department of Agriculture and Land Reform Rural Development in 2005, he was able to open an employee trust, it funded.
Qualifying employees received grants, and the trust got an 18% shareholding in the invested company. In 2013, Nyathi applied for another grant and increased shareholding to 35%.
He also received funding from one of South Africa’s leading financial institutions.
“That is something I feel personally quite happy about, that one would work and do something together with people you work with.”
Tropical Mushrooms now has a staff complement of about 175 employees.
“To me, it’s part of my contribution to society that if it’s possible, you involve as many people as possible… to improve their business knowledge,” Nyathi said.
On his part, Fourie advised farmers interested in mushroom growing to decide which variety they were interested in – exotic or medicinal.
Fourie’s business, The Mushroom Guru, runs workshops and trains prospective growers on how to pack their own mushrooms into bags.
Since 2014, the company has trained over 750 people how to cultivate the crop and source their own material.
“The idea is to train as many people as we can to cultivate mushrooms so that they address food security,” Fourie said.
However, he added: “For people entering the industry that don’t have the skills, it would be a little difficult to make certain things because not all the machinery is going to be available,” Fourie said.
