By Charl van Rooyen
Sophy Litshani Musabeni, a farmer from Gauteng, was named the best new entrant to commercial agriculture when Agricultural Writers SA announced their 2023 winners at a prestigious event in the Western Cape on Friday, 17 November.
Sophy always wanted to be a farmer and began by planting spinach in her mother’s backyard as a child. After school, however, her life took a different direction: she qualified as a professional nurse and worked for the Mediclinic group for a few years.
Eventually, she left the profession to follow her dream, and after three years of struggling to secure finance she acquired a 14-hectare farm in Mapleton near Vosloorus on the East Rand in Gauteng.
The land had not been cultivated for years and was overgrown with weeds, but with hard work and determination she harvested her first crop in 2020.
Sophy is not only a passionate farmer but a trailblazer in the fight against Covid-19 with a keen interest in healthcare and nutrition – hence her decision to grow vegetables.
She started by planting Swiss chard, which is easy to grow and can withstand frost, an issue faced by farmers on the Highveld. Since then, she has expanded her range to include pumpkins, green beans, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower.
Her farming activities have grown exponentially over the last two-and-a-half years. She now owns the company Vhegies, whose core business is to supply fresh vegetables to the surrounding communities and the Johannesburg and Springs markets. She also farms on an additional piece of land in the Boksburg area and has expanded to farm in Limpopo.
