Cape Town - Entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector continues to boost the economy, food supply and job creation.
A family of first generation farmers from Philippi are among the thriving entrepreneurs making a difference. Their Chamomile Farming Enterprises has been able to expand its egg farming operation and open a new and bigger facility.
Wadea Jappie and her husband Achmad Bruinkhuis, started out with a handful of chickens and modest number of crops to feed their household when they first moved on to the property in 2003 but soon they were selling their produce and eventually expanded their operations commercially.
“Our kids were still small at the time we started growing crops but they loved eggs so one day we bought five chickens and soon realised we had an excess of eggs which we then started to sell. We started out selling 20 eggs, then that grew to over 100 and today we are producing over 33 000 eggs per day,” said Brinkhuis.
Now the farm has grown to accommodate 35 000 chickens with their new facility and was directed by Jappie, Bruinkhuis and their sons Tawfeeq and Nabeel.
Brinkhuis said because farmers only generated wealth years after their farms were established (due to the high costs of running a farm), only their great-grandchildren would really benefit from the fruits (and vegetables) of their labour, but the family was passionate about farming and eager to leave this legacy for their children and grandchildren.
The enterprise also brought more job opportunities to the area, Bruinkhuis said they encouraged people in their community to get involved and support their families by selling more produce, as a number of them already did.
Economic Growth Mayco member James Vos said helping agricultural businesses such as Chamomile Farming to grow and connect with bigger businesses was critical for Cape Town and the Western Cape’s economy, food supply and job creation.
Bruinkhuis believes that partnership was key to the success of all businesses and said it was essential to ensure a good relationship and with government as the Western Cape Department of Agriculture also supported their farming enterprise with further development assets and funding.