Two smallholder cotton communities in Limpopo and Mpumalanga packed their last woolpack by hand in August, after welcoming new baling machines. With automated baling these communities can look forward to making bigger margins on their cotton crop. African Farming’s Robyn Joubert reports.
Sithembele Malgas has run a successful vegetable and beef cattle farm in the Eastern Cape for 20 years, employing eight full-time workers. Although he moved out of agricultural extension services many years ago, his passion for transferring skills remains and he continues to mentor and inspire upcoming farmers. Peter Mashala visited him on his Idutywa farm.
Solly Mafuya started farming part-time in 1991 but spent most of his career in the corporate world. When he retired in 2008, he turned to farming full time, pinning his hope on the versatile Dohne Merino sheep breed. He spoke to Peter Mashala about his long-standing passion for the industry.
Thousands of small communal wool farmers will lose out on progress that has been made in their industry over the past 20 years, if the state does not make its contribution to the NWGA’s successful wool improvement project. By Fredalette Uys.
Vhutolo Khangale believes farming is the best way to fight poverty. He says easy-care, hardy and adaptable indigenous veld goats have tremendous economic value to offer, especially to Africa’s poorly resourced smallholder farmers. Vhutolo talks to Peter Mashala about the benefits of farming the Indigenous Veld Goat breed.
The HandPicked agricultural skills development programme from Mr Price Foundation is using vertical crop production to create entrepreneurial opportunities for agricultural students and home growers. The foundation is seeing valuable early results from this corporate social investment programme, including growing more food, closer to markets. African Farming’s Robyn Joubert visited the project.
A mechanisation pilot project by the John Deere SMART initiative has doubled the maize yields of two small-scale farmers in one season, and has the potential to usher their whole community into the era of mechanised farming. By Robyn Joubert.
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