LIVING OFF THE LAND
Rather than head to Jozi for work, this mom turned small-town tomatoes into cash. By Shanthini Naidoo
Phindile Nkosi mothers her tomato plants as if they were her own children, and she loves them nearly as much. The farmer in remote Elukwatini, Mpumalanga, near the Swaziland border, was close to leaving her little town to work as a kitchen hand in Joburg after she was widowed. “I did not want to leave my kids. They were so young and were going to school here. Joburg is so far away,” Nkosi said. So she tried her hand at farming.
It did not go well initially. “We tried paprika in our community garden but it failed. We tried tomatoes also, but they got soft too quickly and we had to throw them away.” Then an agricultural NGO, TechnoServe, stepped in to help Nkosi and a group of farmers from Elukwatini to grow tomatoes successfully in the rich, red soil, using biodiverse farming methods. Working with Woolworths, the farmers were given loans and a market was created for their firstgrade produce.
In 2012, they harvested 465 tons of round tomatoes, which generated revenue of R1.5-million. Now her round tomatoes are sold in Woolworths stores in Gauteng.
“After the 2012 harvest, I had enough money to build my house. My children have food and school uniforms, and my eldest daughter is at university in Swaziland now. I just got my driver’s licence and I am saving to buy a bakkie.”
Walking between the rows of plants, Nkosi talks about how she has learnt to care for the “babies” through training and mentorship. “I learnt about communication, how to talk to people about working together. I learnt about soil preparation and water, fertiliser, harvesting and about finances.”
She also won an award from technoserve for her simple business plan and used the cash prize to erect a cattle fence around her 3ha plot and install a sprinkler irrigation system. She employs five to 12 people, depending on the time of year, and donates leftover produce to the community.
This year, the Elukwatini farmers collective is hoping to harvest 600 tons of tomatoes for an estimated revenue of R2-million, if the weather plays its part.
“There was only an asbestos mine here before, and people had to find work in Joburg,” said Nkosi. “Now there is no asbestos, but the soil is our mine.”