Pig farmers are trained by Ntabankulu municipality
FOUR aspiring farmers from poverty-stricken Eastern Cape rural communities will spend a year learning how to raise pigs before returning home to share their knowledge with others.
The Ntabankulu Local Municipality selected four young trainees to be sent to Krugersdorp in Gauteng where they will receive piggery training and be taught about this highly regulated industry.
The four recently left for their course, which will continue until July 2018 when they will return to the Eastern Cape and train other young farming hopefuls and in this way create new jobs.
Municipal spokesperson Lixolile Petela said that Ziyanda Matshaka and Zamokwakhe Nohayi from Emcepheni village would be placed on the Agro Hub project while Sibulele Ntonga and Albert Malakalaka would join the Bhakuba Piggery Project.
They were chosen from local co-ops that are already into pig farming.
“They showed interest and motivation for this kind of farming, and we are very excited for them and for the municipality at large, because the institution that is training them imposes high standards and uses highly automated systems,” said Petela.
The four will be trained on how to take good care of sows by making sure that they get enough heat and enough feeding. They will be taught about breeding and how to apply the bio-security specifications that the piggery project needs to comply with.
In the near future, Petela said, Ntabankulu is planning to start its own institution using the sophisticated equipment used in Krugersdorp. The aim is to establish a facility that can offer training to emerging farmers, working closely with government departments.
Marketing training offered will teach the trainees how to maintain the highest meat quality standards by ensuring that pigs are fed good quality feed. The trainees will learn how to mix their own feed to cut down on input costs.
Every three months the four trainees will be given a break. Training costs have been covered by the municipality.
Ntabankulu is one of the poorest townships in the Eastern Cape, with a high rate of unemployed youth and poverty. – Health-e News