Cape Town – From starting a poultry farm to harvesting her successfully grown spinach, 27-year-old Ncumisa Mkabile from Khayelitsha is making big strides towards realising her independent farming dream.
The travel and tourism graduate harvested her home-grown spinach for the first time yesterday, to be sold for R12 a bunch.
Mkabile made headlines recently as the founder of chicken farm, Mamcube Homegrown Chicken, which she started in March.
She said she started planting her spinach in May, and employed seven people who worked on her farm.
“My dream is to get a bigger farm so that I can farm commercially, supply spinach all over South Africa and other countries while creating employment opportunities for people,” she said.
Mkabile said she didn’t like the idea of farming spinach at first, but because it was a winter crop she decided to use the land to the best of its ability. In summer she will be harvesting green peppers.
“It was not complicated for me because I farm spinach in the same place I farm chickens, and I have people working at the farm so it makes it easier for me to manage everything,” she said.
Being a community driven farmer, Mkabile said she was grateful for the support she had received from her community.
Encouraging those in her community to start their own initiatives, Mkabile said: “Start now with what you have and it will give you what you need. Do not wait for the government to fund you, give the government something to work with.”
She is heading a farming sector for the Khayelitsha Business Forum which aims to identify and offer farming courses to those interested in the community.
Khayelitsha Business Forum secretary Thobela Gubudela said: “We are very proud to have a young female start a farm out of her own pocket and make it a success.
"We are in partnership with her to expand the scope of farming in Khayelitsha. She inspires a lot of people, both young and old, showing them how to do it for themselves and their communities.”
Mkabile charges a reduced price of R8 a bunch for bulk orders.
To place an order call Mkabile on 076 582 9330 or send her a WhatsApp message on 083 334 0138.