Velicia Janse, owner of Oudrif Trufe Farm in the Cacadu region of the Eastern Cape, said she starts every single day with a prayer. Then after getting out of bed she prepares breakfast for her two children and husband and from there heads out to her 304ha farm which produces hundreds of tons of apples and pears a year.
Janse, whose farm started out as a humble fruit plantation in 2012 after she received a government grant from the Eastern Cape department of rural development and agrarian reform, is one of the biggest producers of apples and pears in the province.
Oudrif Trufe currently supplies local supermarkets with a variety of different types of apples including granny smith and golden delicious, with a selection of pears ranging from forelle to rosemary.
Last year alone, the farm produced 434 tons of top red apples, 521 tons of granny smith apples and 57 tons of pears. Of these, 60% were exported to Europe.
Janse said she had started the farm in part to recreate her wonderful childhood memories of growing up on a farm for her children but also as a means of making a living.
“Every single day, I wake up and before even getting out of bed I pray. I ask God to bless me and my family and for the strength to see to all of the duties of the day before I head out and see to the work at hand. With a farm of my size, there is enough work to keep me busy well into the night every day,” she said.
“My husband does assist me on the farm. I also have employees and I try and delegate the work where I can but there are many things I want to do myself.”
Janse said she had 44 full time staff members and 73 seasonal employees.
She is one of a handful of large-scale female farmers making a name for herself by running a successful farm in the face of her male counterparts.
According to Hlonela Lupuwana-Pemba, managing director for Anglo American Zimele, which assists South Africans to own and run businesses, agriculture has traditionally been a mainstay economic activity for woman, but only in rural areas.
Lupuwana-Pemba further states that on the African continent, more than 80% of agricultural production comes from small farmers, who are mostly rural women.
“Last year, global management consulting company McKinsey published a report which set out five bold priorities to speed up inclusive economic growth in South Africa. Agriculture and agro-processing were listed as one of the ‘big five’ keys to unlocking growth, particularly in rural areas, since nearly one in 10 South Africans depends on subsistence farming,” she said.
“If we grant more access to arable land to under-represented segments of society, like women and young people, strengthen irrigation and logistics to build market access, South Africa can create an additional half-a-million jobs and triple agricultural exports to $14-billion (R196-million) by 2030, according to the McKinsey study.
Zoliwe Rhum, owner of Tripple 5 Farm in Gotyeni Village in Tsolo, is one such rural farmer who started out with a small vegetable patch in her backyard.
Now, four years later, Rhum manages 32ha where she grows corn, spinach, cabbage, potatoes and butternut which she sells to all the local supermarkets in Mthatha.
Rhum also has livestock which she breeds specifically for selling.
According to the mother of four, her farm started out as a small vegetable patch where she used to plant vegetables in order to feed her own family.
“I had two hectares then and the more I planted, the more I realised how good I am at growing vegetables. I decided to try and plant more to sell in the village so I asked my neighbour to give me some of his land and he agreed. I grew my farm just by doing that, getting land donations from my neighbours. I now have 32ha and I use almost every inch of it for planting,” she said.
Rhum said the major motivation which pushed her to continue with farming was as a means to feed her family as she had struggled to secure employment.
The farm turned that around and now Rhum employs 10 locals, with two of them permanent.
She said: “It was while I was looking around for a job that I realised all of this land here that no one is using. My farm not only supports me and my family but I give back to the local community too because when I have a job that needs to be done, I always employ from the village.”
Ntombifikile Radi does not own a farm but has worked with chickens at Driesfontein Farm in Matatiele since 2002.
Her job basically entails looking after the chickens and picking up eggs so they can be cleaned, wrapped, packed and sold.
They sell the eggs to local supermarkets in their town.
She, along with Janse and Rhum, were recently celebrated for their achievements by the department of rural development and agrarian reform this year in the 2016 female entrepreneur of the year awards.
Janse walked away with the prize for top export producer, Rhum for top smallholding producer and Radi for best female employee.
Prizes included cash, certificates and trophies.
Radi said her knowledge of chickens is so vast that she had also taught her employer a thing or two about the trade.
“I think I received the award because I don’t just work there, this job is my life.
“I know everything there is to know about chicken farming.
“Our employer even came to me for some pointers on how to run things because when they bought this farm they didn’t know much about farming,” Radi said.
All three women said despite their success, farming was not an easy job.
Janse said: “My opinion is that farming should be a woman’s job because farming needs someone who can multitask and I think this is a skill that women have mastered over the years.
“I have children, a husband and I run this farm. I manage to balance everything.”
Rhum said for her the transition into a full time manager had been a little harder.
“It was hard at first. During the day I had to run the entire operation then come sundown I had to turn into mom and wife. There’s the children’s homework, cooking, cleaning, the list is endless. It took some transitioning but I finally have the hang of it now. I take it all in my stride,” she said.
Radi said farming was hard work but any woman can do it, completing all the tasks that a man can do.
“The work is do-able if you have the right mindset. Anyone can do it. At the farm I am at, there are six women and only two men, just to show how possible it is for a woman to work there.”
“… it is clear that women play a crucial role in the agricultural sector. It is also clear that the challenge is not the participation of the women in the sector, but rather, how we make their participation more meaningful and scalable.
“The window of opportunity is open. Consumption is rising throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the rest of the emerging world. As populations grow, and as many countries join the consuming class, South Africa is best positioned to provide high-quality exports of fruit, nuts, cereals, wine and fruit juices.
“But this will not be achieved by will alone. Deliberate effort needs to be put into developing structured and sustainable programmes that will empower women to capitalise on this opportunity in the agricultural sector,” Lupuwana-Pemba concluded. — zisandan@dispatch.co.za
Blessed with the magic touch
Janse, whose farm started out as a humble fruit plantation in 2012 after she received a government grant from the Eastern Cape department of rural development and agrarian reform, is one of the biggest producers of apples and pears in the province.
Oudrif Trufe currently supplies local supermarkets with a variety of different types of apples including granny smith and golden delicious, with a selection of pears ranging from forelle to rosemary.
Last year alone, the farm produced 434 tons of top red apples, 521 tons of granny smith apples and 57 tons of pears. Of these, 60% were exported to Europe.
Janse said she had started the farm in part to recreate her wonderful childhood memories of growing up on a farm for her children but also as a means of making a living.
“Every single day, I wake up and before even getting out of bed I pray. I ask God to bless me and my family and for the strength to see to all of the duties of the day before I head out and see to the work at hand. With a farm of my size, there is enough work to keep me busy well into the night every day,” she said.
“My husband does assist me on the farm. I also have employees and I try and delegate the work where I can but there are many things I want to do myself.”
Janse said she had 44 full time staff members and 73 seasonal employees.
She is one of a handful of large-scale female farmers making a name for herself by running a successful farm in the face of her male counterparts.
According to Hlonela Lupuwana-Pemba, managing director for Anglo American Zimele, which assists South Africans to own and run businesses, agriculture has traditionally been a mainstay economic activity for woman, but only in rural areas.
Lupuwana-Pemba further states that on the African continent, more than 80% of agricultural production comes from small farmers, who are mostly rural women.
“Last year, global management consulting company McKinsey published a report which set out five bold priorities to speed up inclusive economic growth in South Africa. Agriculture and agro-processing were listed as one of the ‘big five’ keys to unlocking growth, particularly in rural areas, since nearly one in 10 South Africans depends on subsistence farming,” she said.
“If we grant more access to arable land to under-represented segments of society, like women and young people, strengthen irrigation and logistics to build market access, South Africa can create an additional half-a-million jobs and triple agricultural exports to $14-billion (R196-million) by 2030, according to the McKinsey study.
Zoliwe Rhum, owner of Tripple 5 Farm in Gotyeni Village in Tsolo, is one such rural farmer who started out with a small vegetable patch in her backyard.
Now, four years later, Rhum manages 32ha where she grows corn, spinach, cabbage, potatoes and butternut which she sells to all the local supermarkets in Mthatha.
Rhum also has livestock which she breeds specifically for selling.
According to the mother of four, her farm started out as a small vegetable patch where she used to plant vegetables in order to feed her own family.
“I had two hectares then and the more I planted, the more I realised how good I am at growing vegetables. I decided to try and plant more to sell in the village so I asked my neighbour to give me some of his land and he agreed. I grew my farm just by doing that, getting land donations from my neighbours. I now have 32ha and I use almost every inch of it for planting,” she said.
Rhum said the major motivation which pushed her to continue with farming was as a means to feed her family as she had struggled to secure employment.
The farm turned that around and now Rhum employs 10 locals, with two of them permanent.
She said: “It was while I was looking around for a job that I realised all of this land here that no one is using. My farm not only supports me and my family but I give back to the local community too because when I have a job that needs to be done, I always employ from the village.”
Ntombifikile Radi does not own a farm but has worked with chickens at Driesfontein Farm in Matatiele since 2002.
Her job basically entails looking after the chickens and picking up eggs so they can be cleaned, wrapped, packed and sold.
They sell the eggs to local supermarkets in their town.
She, along with Janse and Rhum, were recently celebrated for their achievements by the department of rural development and agrarian reform this year in the 2016 female entrepreneur of the year awards.
Janse walked away with the prize for top export producer, Rhum for top smallholding producer and Radi for best female employee.
Prizes included cash, certificates and trophies.
Radi said her knowledge of chickens is so vast that she had also taught her employer a thing or two about the trade.
“I think I received the award because I don’t just work there, this job is my life.
“I know everything there is to know about chicken farming.
“Our employer even came to me for some pointers on how to run things because when they bought this farm they didn’t know much about farming,” Radi said.
All three women said despite their success, farming was not an easy job.
Janse said: “My opinion is that farming should be a woman’s job because farming needs someone who can multitask and I think this is a skill that women have mastered over the years.
“I have children, a husband and I run this farm. I manage to balance everything.”
Rhum said for her the transition into a full time manager had been a little harder.
“It was hard at first. During the day I had to run the entire operation then come sundown I had to turn into mom and wife. There’s the children’s homework, cooking, cleaning, the list is endless. It took some transitioning but I finally have the hang of it now. I take it all in my stride,” she said.
Radi said farming was hard work but any woman can do it, completing all the tasks that a man can do.
“The work is do-able if you have the right mindset. Anyone can do it. At the farm I am at, there are six women and only two men, just to show how possible it is for a woman to work there.”
“… it is clear that women play a crucial role in the agricultural sector. It is also clear that the challenge is not the participation of the women in the sector, but rather, how we make their participation more meaningful and scalable.
“The window of opportunity is open. Consumption is rising throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the rest of the emerging world. As populations grow, and as many countries join the consuming class, South Africa is best positioned to provide high-quality exports of fruit, nuts, cereals, wine and fruit juices.
“But this will not be achieved by will alone. Deliberate effort needs to be put into developing structured and sustainable programmes that will empower women to capitalise on this opportunity in the agricultural sector,” Lupuwana-Pemba concluded. — zisandan@dispatch.co.za
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