veggie Award-winning farmer: don't be afraid to ask for advice!

Vegetable farmer Sophy Litshani Musabeni doesn't miss an opportunity to broaden her knowledge on agriculture. Doing her own research and speaking to those in the know, she has catapulted herself from a small-scale emerging farmer to a commercial success in just seven years.

- Lindi Botha

Sophy Litshani Musabeni always knew she wanted to farm. But following her parents' advice to first obtain a professional qualification, she studied to be a nurse. Once she completed her studies and started working, it was evident that her passion for farming had not waned, and she still longed for the land.

She spent all her free time researching farming practices online and saved all the money she could to fund her dream. In 2017, she leased her first piece of land, 15ha in Mapleton, Gauteng, and established her business, Vhegies, farming during the day and working night shifts as a nurse.

Within the same year, she was able to leave nursing behind and start farming full time, beginning with 2ha of spinach. It was a proud day when she harvested 1 000 bunches of spinach and sent her first shipment off to the Joburg Fresh Produce Market.

EARLY LESSONS

“But the spinach didn't sell, and I didn't get a cent for my hard work. The market was flooded with spinach that week so there was no demand,” says Musabeni.

She learnt an important lesson that day: know your market, and have more options. “I realised I couldn’t just rely on the fresh produce markets; I needed to find other avenues. I also realised that I needed to stagger production so that I could make smaller, more regular deliveries, rather than plant and harvest everything all at once.”

Not afraid to knock on doors, Musabeni approached supermarkets in the area, asking if they would buy her produce. She learnt that while some would take produce directly from farmers, others relied on central distribution centres that sourced, processed and packed produce on behalf of the supermarkets. The former were easier to sell to, while the latter required supply agreements that came with a host of regulations.

She then revised her strategy, diversifying the volume of vegetables she planted.