Young farmer Matome Mokgobu worked tirelessly to acquire the skills and knowledge she needed, never letting setbacks deter her from her goal. Today, she is a successful farmer in Limpopo, inspiring others with her story of overcoming adversity and achieving success despite the odds. Lebogang Mashala visited her on her farm in Gemarke, 120km north-east of Polokwane.
Matome Cynthia Mokgobu from the Limpopo village of Gemarke, close to Bochum, is a prime example of the well-known saying “dynamite comes in small packages”.
When Matome was a child, her enterprising parents constantly told her she could become anything she desired to be. Even though her family experienced financial hardship and lost their business, she was undeterred because she had made up her mind to work for herself as a farmer.
Her company, Mosibudi Trading Enterprises, produces butternuts, cabbages, spinach, mustard and potatoes, which she delivers to Boxer Superstores, the Bochum market, Spar Save More, Joburg market, Polokwane fresh produce market and street vendors.
Matome’s parents, Moloko Johannes and Mahlodi Rosina Mokgobu, owned a supermarket and liquor store for many years. They also supplied school feeding schemes in and around Bochum. Her parents greatly influenced her life and business.
“My dad always encouraged me to be self-sufficient and pushed me to be my own person,” remembers Matome.
While Matome was still in primary school, her dad registered a company and appointed her secretary. This was the stamp of approval she needed. Her father farmed, but it was a subsistence operation with cattle, goats and seasonal crops. The 5-hectare family plot was initially intended to be used for cropping, but that venture failed. “My parents established this small farm around 1996, drilled a borehole and even bought the tractor I’m now using,” she explains. Matome says her parents’ farming venture didn’t succeed due to their lack of farming knowledge.
A few years later, the situation changed dramatically when Matome’s family businesses in the village were boycotted for seven years, and they struggled to survive. Moloko ended up in Gauteng in search of work but Matome’s challenging home situation didn’t discourage her from dreaming about her own business. She lay awake at night thinking about the family plot that had a borehole lying idle.
In high school, Matome studied science-related subjects before earning an ornamental horticulture diploma from the University of South Africa. The challenging situation at home made it difficult for her parents to pay for her studies, so she got an internship at the Garden World nursery in Honeydew, Johannesburg. “I used some of the money to pay for my tuition and was lucky to land a bursary later,” she says.
After completing her studies, she volunteered at the South African National Botanical Garden in Pretoria and later got an internship at the landscapers Pebbles Plant. Within a few months, she felt she had enough experience to set up her own business, and her first idea was to offer landscaping services. “There are few landscaping companies in Bochum, so I thought this would be a good idea.”
She started the business in 2016 but soon discovered there is a lack of demand for landscaping services. However, she landed two clients who paid her enough to start her farming business.
“The first client came from one of the local schools when a teacher asked me to come to his home and do his garden,” says Matome. “He paid me about R700, which I used to purchase seeds, hosepipe and a few items I needed to start my backyard garden.”
She planted cabbage and spinach, which she sold door-to-door in the village. Another landscaping client, a businessman in Bochum, paid her enough to buy drip irrigation systems, refurbish the borehole and fence the plot. By this time, Moloko had retired, and he helped Matome with the money he received from his pension.
When Matome moved to the family plot in 2018, she added cayenne peppers, butternut and spring onions to her crop line-up and the local agriculture department helped her connect with a client who needed bulk pepper supplies. “As a result, I received my first contract for supplying cayenne peppers to a client they had secured on behalf of several local farmers, including myself. Using my dad’s Toyota Tazz, we delivered the peppers to the client once it was ready.”
The client reneged on the original price for the peppers and paid her way less, resulting in a loss. “I realised I was making good money selling in the village, so I switched back to the local market.”
Matome terminated the contract and sold the remaining peppers to local markets and the Polokwane fresh produce market. “I made more money that way. And with my trolley, I sold over 500 bunches of spinach every day, moving from house to house and business to business,” she says.
She planted more as she made more profit. In 2021, she planted more than 1ha under different crops. The same year, the local agriculture department connected her with Potatoes SA, who were looking to work with emerging farmers. Matome grew her first potato crop on a quarter of a hectare, harvested three tons and sold them locally.
In 2022, she increased the planting area to 1ha and harvested close to 20 tons. According to her, planting potatoes without equipment was the most difficult task she faced. “The work was done by hand. The furrows were dug with the plough, then hoes were used to cover the seed and make ridges,” she says.
Her estimate of a reasonable potato yield per hectare is over 40 tons, and she says the yield was lower because everything was done by hand and without the right equipment. Despite this, she made a profit on the informal market, with most of her crop going to Mozambique. “Trucks from Mozambique came to collect at the farm, which gave me a lot of confidence,” she says.
As a young farmer, Matome uses social media as a powerful networking tool. Through these platforms, her work has been exposed to a wide range of stakeholders who have taken note of her achievements. Since 2021, she has been part of De Beers Group’s Zimele programme, in which the mining giant offers funding, training, support and mentorship to emerging black-owned businesses. Last year, she received De Beers funding to expand her business, and with the help of Potatoes SA she expanded her potato production to 5ha.
The Zimele funding enabled her to acquire a centre pivot to irrigate the 5ha, and debush and fence the land, bringing the farm’s total arable area to just over 8ha.
Potatoes were planted in August, while butternut, cabbage, spinach and cayenne peppers were planted on the remaining 3ha.
When it comes to potatoes, Matome says the key is soil preparation. She explains that potatoes are an expensive and sensitive crop to grow, so if your soil is not sufficiently prepared, yields will be affected. Because potatoes produce underground, they won’t thrive if the soil isn’t loose enough or well drained. “To ensure the soil was loose and well-drained, we used a ripper, ploughed twice and disked before planting,” she says. At planting, they applied 2.3.4 and LAN.
“We applied about 50 bags of fertiliser on the 5ha, which was about 10 bags per hectare, depending on the soil analysis,” she says. “We irrigate three to four times a week, depending on the weather.”
As Matome explains, potatoes are susceptible to many diseases and should be sprayed regularly.
“We spray almost every week,” she says. Potatoes can take up to 120 days to harvest, according to her, and she says she’ll begin harvesting in December, with buyers from Mozambique keen to collect then.
Lack of equipment is one of Matome’s biggest challenges. “Last year, we borrowed a potato lifter from a local farmer. However, it is an old one-row lifter, so I will need to hire another lifter from another farmer to cover a larger area.” Lack of infrastructure, such as packhouse facilities, is another obstacle. “We sell unwashed potatoes because we do not have the facilities for that,” she says. As a result, she has to charge a lower price.
Lack of equipment is one of Matome’s biggest challenges. “Last year, we borrowed a potato lifter from a local farmer. However, it is an old one-row lifter, so I will need to hire another lifter from another farmer to cover a larger area.” Lack of infrastructure, such as packhouse facilities, is another obstacle. “We sell unwashed potatoes because we do not have the facilities for that,” she says. As a result, she has to charge a lower price.
Matome says being part of a study group has benefited her.
“There are many commercial potato farmers in this area because it is in a potato belt. As part of the Blouberg study group, we participate in workshops and training sessions,” Matome explains.
She says she is in discussions about leases with members of the community who own unused plots adjacent to hers because soil rest is non-negotiable with potatoes. “Normally, the resting period lasts four years. Therefore, you need enough land for rotational purposes. As of now, I have access to 10 more hectares that I need to clear and fence in preparation for my next planting season,” she says.
The land Matome rests can be used for crops such as butternuts, cabbage and spinach as part of a resting and crop rotation programme.
