In more ways than one, we are certainly in our “trying times era , an era where you have to wake up and do it yourself.
Agriculture is a thriving sector in South Africa at the moment and in high demand, perhaps it’s high time we switch up and become Agri-preneurs.
Food for Mzansi shares ideas on how you can start farming without money for beginners based on farmers with success stories who started from nothing but an idea and commitment:
Finding a space to farm
Land is a scarce thing in South Africa, however you shouldn’t be discouraged there are many ways you can start farming.
For example, based on two stories shared by Food for Mzansi (FFM), if you’re an individual, you can start by using your backyard. All you have to do is to buy seedlings that start from as little as 50 cents.
A second story was a collective group of women who started by transforming a rubbish dump to a thriving garden, they started making profit for their families and helping out their community.
Register your business
No matter how small your business is, register it and make it professional so you can attract people who can fund you or to make it easier for your business to receive a helping hand.
A successful story of Thembeni Eunice Nxumalo who shared with FFM about how she started her farming business from seedlings of potatoes and cabbage from only R13.99. Nxumalo registered her business because she believed in it and later on the year employed four permanent staff members.
Sharpen your skill
There are plenty of courses and training offered to small scale farmers, it helps to check your local Department of Agriculture and see what they have to offer for small time farmers.
You can never know enough, keep on learning about how you can grow your business.
Network and collaboration
Networking is a business language, these days there are many agricultural networks you can find even on social media. Know the people in your industry so you can learn from their problem solving skills.
For example, what to farm on which season, how to deal with draft, pricing, marketing your Agri-business and how to sustain it.
Collaboration is key in this business, building strong relations will help you get closer to accessing funds, infrastructure and invitations to workshops and trainings.
Also see: Starting a garden for small spaces
