Farming With Nature In The Sandveld

After venturing into the organic fresh market, the owners of Sandveld Organics on the West Coast created a niche for themselves in the organic seed market. Susi Engelbrecht spoke to Glenneis Kriel about their journey.

- Glenneis Kriel

When Susi Engelbrecht and her husband Theunis purchased a small section of Suurfontein farm near Lamberts Bay on the West Coast in 1999, their initial goal was to supply the market with organic fresh vegetables. They worked hard to gain and maintain the status of independent supplier to one of South Africa’s leading retail groups, but gave up after about five years.

“We learnt valuable lessons about packing, processing, ethical production and food safety, but after a while realised we were too far from the market and too small to justify all the effort we were putting into production. A lot of our produce, while extremely tasty, went to waste because it didn’t meet the high standards of the retailer,” Engelbrecht recalls.

The couple decided instead to focus on greens and root vegetables, which thrive under the region’s arid conditions, and to distribute them through Cape Town’s network of informal markets, organic box systems and stores. They also diversified production by supplying the seed market and adding value to “every last thing” produced on the farm.

Engelbrecht says their decision to target the seed market originated in their own problems sourcing organic seed in South Africa. Further investigation also revealed that their dry climate was better suited to seed than fresh vegetable production. Sandveld Organics seed can be ordered online via the farm’s website, or through selected online shops and retail outlets.

PRODUCTION

The couple’s farm covers 150ha, of which 10ha are under irrigation. Production has been down scaled to a few hectares a year, not least due to the ongoing drought.