Nandipha Sodwele, a 30-year-old entrepreneur from Bizana, has been named the overall winner of the 2025 Women Entrepreneur Awards (WEA) hosted by the Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
By Maile Matsimela, Digital Editor at African Farming
The young farmer, who owns Nolandumbinda Projects, walked away with R100 000 after winning both the overall title and the Agro-Processing category.
The awards ceremony, spearheaded by Eastern Cape MEC of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nonceba Kontsiwe, celebrated women entrepreneurs who are making significant contributions to economic development and job creation in the agriculture sector across the province.
From Art to Agriculture
Despite being a qualified fine artist by profession, Nandipha chose to pursue agriculture, inspired by her family’s agro-processing and farming background. Her company operates a milling plant that processes maize into maize meal and produces by-products for animal feed, providing food security and employment in the Bizana region.
“I’m a fine artist by profession but decided to go back home and I decided to get involved in farming. I love producing food and being able to feed my family. It makes a lot of income. It’s something that I grew up with,” Nandipha said during her acceptance speech.
Her enterprise has created three permanent and 16 temporary or seasonal jobs, supplying products to local communities, schools through the Department of Education Nutrition Programme, retail shops, livestock farmers, and supermarkets.
Hard Work and Persistence
Speaking at the awards ceremony, an emotional Nandipha said she was excited to be recognised by the department for the hard work she put into this enterprise, and this will motivate her to do more.
“I was now worried about the production inputs for this planting season, and I will use some of the money I have won here to buy them as well as growing my agro-processing business,” said Nandipha.
“Receiving these awards today, I’m very overwhelmed and excited, and looking forward to doing even bigger things,” she said.
She emphasised the intensive nature of agricultural work: “First you must work, you have to put in so much effort into getting what you are doing. The hours, the longer hours, even after the workers are gone, you continue with the work.”
One of the major challenges her business faces is access to funding for growth and expansion. “The challenges that we have faced thus far is being able to get funding so that you can be able to grow as we are at the growth and expansion stage. We are on communal land,” she explained.
Expansion Plans
Nandipha has ambitious plans for the future, aiming to scale her production capacity from 365kg per hour to 2 tonnes per hour and expand yellow maize farming from 22 hectares to 50 hectares over the next five years.
“I started under 5 hectares doing vegetables, feeding schools, and supplying retailers such as boxer stores and Roots Butcheries, and today we are doing 22 hectares, and even I couldn’t believe it,” she shared.
Message to Young People
The award winner had words of encouragement for young people considering agriculture: “To the young people out there, I have seen that the income is not what you think it is. You need to be persistent. You need to be resilient. You will fall. You will lose. But do not give up. There are dry seasons. There are tough times.”
Other Award Winners
The ceremony also recognised other outstanding women entrepreneurs in the sector. Zanele Matikinca of Idealveg Trading (Pty) Ltd won the Best Commercial Entrepreneur Category and received R50 000 for her fresh and chopped vegetable supply business serving local restaurants and hospitals.
PUFESO Agri Enterprise from Engcobo claimed the Best Smallholder Entrepreneur Category with R50,000 for their fresh vegetable and egg supply operations. Naudeshoek Farm in Ngqushwa won the Best Export Category and R50 000 for growing and exporting citrus fruits to international markets including the EU and UK.
OR Tambo district was recognised as the best-performing district. In total, R290,000 in prize money was distributed among the winners.
Government Support
MEC Nonceba Kontsiwe emphasised the importance of recognising women as leaders, innovators, and key contributors to the agricultural sector. She noted that these awards highlight women’s critical role in driving economic growth and transformation in agriculture, while encouraging youth, particularly women, to consider agriculture as a viable and rewarding career.
