Small farmer on her way to realise her big dream
Mokgobu plans to become a major potato producer
Matome Cynthia Mokgobu, who quit her internship to start farming five years ago, says her business has grown from producing small crops for her community to supplying well-established supermarkets and wholesalers in Limpopo.
The 28-year-old crop farmer has bigger plans for her remote village of Gemarke, outside Senwabarwana, where she runs two companies, Mosibudi Trading Enterprise and Matome Landscaping and Design.
“I started farming in my backyard by planting spinach, chillies, beetroot and onions, and sold to locals in the street market. Now I’m harvesting spinach, which I supply to giant supermarkets three to four times a week and next month I will do so with my first planted potatoes,” she said.
Mokgobu has occupied 19ha of family land but could only afford to fence off 3ha of the land due to a lack of capital.
“When I arrived home from Gauteng, after I quit the internship, I raised capital through my landscaping jobs and help from family,” she said.
“I also acquired a lot of knowledge from the Department of Agriculture’s extension officers and senior officials based in the Blouberg local municipality.”
Mokgobu said that after officially occupying the farm in 2018, she eventually got her first contract.
“My first contract was planting cayenne pepper on a 1ha farm. After that I started planting crops like cabbage, butternut, spinach and mustard, supplying to three fresh produce markets and now I’m doing a trial with Potato SA,” she explained.
She said her dream was to grow and make her remote village one of the biggest potato hubs in the country. Mokgobu said with a huge piece of land her dream can be realised.
“My dream is to expand at the farm so that I can supply to different market across the country and also export, and my main crop will be potato. I currently have 19ha, of which 3ha is fenced and in operation but I need more than 1,000ha to start my potato journey,” she said.
Mokgobu, who has a qualification in ornamental horticulture from Unisa, juggles two jobs.
“When I’m not farming, I do landscaping at people’s homes to raise capital because farming is demanding. I’m a horticulturist by profession and a farmer by heart. I was born to be a farmer and farming is my passion,” she said.
She has appointed seven temporary employees on the farm to help her to grow and sell the crops.
In an effort to boost her knowledge, Mokgobu attended agricultural training with a non-governmental organisation in 2019.
Mokgobu also offers mentoring through Zoom meetings to teach youth and the elderly how to farm.
She is one of the emerging farmers who received Covid-19 relief funds from the Department of Agriculture.