Nkgono Jane says...

October 2015

Wow – it is summer again and everyone will be working hard with renewed hope for a good season. We hope that the rains will come in time and continue until everyone has a harvest so that we can feed our families and all the people of South Africa.

Being a farmer these days is not easy and we have to make optimal use of all the resources that are available to us. There are not many farmers who manage to survive by just planting crops – most farmers have to include a livestock component too to use the natural grazing as well as the crop residues. However, keeping livestock is also challenging – feeding them and keeping them healthy is a huge task. Remember to keep your animals well fed and healthy so that they can reproduce for you and in so doing generate an income.

In this Pula Imvula is an article about Mrs Mdluli who was one of the previous winners of the subsistence farmer competition – it is great to see how increasing her maize yields, has actually led to the development of her own small business. The basic production of any crops, vegetables or livestock is the first link in the chain. People need to eat and so we must use the earth to produce food – once you are producing, then other opportunities for adding value become possible. If you do not have the primary product then nothing much is possible. Keep producing on your land and then look out for other opportunities within your own community – start a small business and who knows how it might grow?

We are delighted to share the news with all of you that we have managed to secure Jobs Fund support for our project – From Subsistence to Abundance – the project helping the subsistence farmers to access good seed, fertiliser and chemicals. We hope that this project will touch the lives of 1 700 subsistence farmers this year. We are looking forward to sharing this project with you in future articles. Our thanks to the Jobs Fund for giving us this opportunity to assist farmers. Our thanks also to our input supply partners for being involved.

Publication: October 2015

Section: Pula/Imvula