Uphill road from small to commercial farming

Driven by passion and a dream to develop his business to its full potential, livestock farmer Petros Sibanyoni is persevering despite trials and tribulations. He spoke to Lindi Botha about the challenges faced by emerging farmers, many of whom seem stuck in the proverbial development freezer

- Lindi Botha

As a young boy, Petros Sibanyoni grew up watching the success of commercial farmers in the Olifantsfontein area of Gauteng. Some of his friends worked on the farms and Sibanyoni was captivated by their reports, convinced that there was a future in farming. “I watched those farmers expanding their operations over the years and that inspired me to work towards the same goal,” he relates.

While still in school he started a vegetable garden at home and assisted his father in tending to his goats. His heart was set on livestock farming, but after school it became apparent that starting a farm from scratch, without land, a herd or any collateral for a loan, would not be possible.

Not losing sight of his goal, he worked as an insurance salesman, saving until he could rent a piece of land in 2003. “But that left me without money to buy cattle. So I went and cried on my uncle’s shoulder — he had a large herd — until he eventually gave me a cow,” he laughs.

Sibanyoni slowly built up his herd, but setbacks were not far off. “One night, two of my cows were stolen out of the kraal. I was so despondent after working so hard to buy those animals, I started sleeping in the kraal just to keep them safe.”

Sibanyoni epitomises the struggles faced by many an emerging farmer. The passion and drive are there, but capital is not. With no collateral to offer the banks, loans have evaded him. “Growth happens very slowly when you don’t have financing,” he laments.

While government programmes and grants to support emerging farmers are available in theory, Sibanyoni explains that this also takes time.