A neglected citrus farm in Tshipise village, Musina, in South Africa's Limpopo province is back in production after more than 700 people helped buy it through crowdfunding, Livestock Wealth chief executive Nthuthuko Shezi told Food For Mzansi.
When the investors took over, the trees had not been fertilised for two years and staff had been retrenched. Shezi said the hardest part was finding someone to run the farm, which took about four months, before farmer Themba Ngwenya took charge. "Purchasing such a big farm without having a capable person to operate it is like throwing money away," he said.
Rebuilding started from people and infrastructure, then markets. The farm did not export in its first year, 2024. In its second it sent its first shipment of 74,000 cartons, and this year, its first full season, it shipped 109,500 cartons. For next season it expects 140,000 cartons and is planting another 15 hectares of lemons, which will take about three years to come into full harvest. The packhouse has also been improved.
The farm sells mostly for export, as the local citrus market is limited. It harvests lemons from January, about eight weeks before most growers start in March, which lets it reach Europe and other markets early, Shezi said.
Support came from the provincial government, which placed 60 people on the farm in 2025 and 2026 under the expanded public works programme and taught them farming and orchard hygiene, and from the Citrus Growers Association, which gave a grant of R1.2 million in two halves to cover operating inputs. The farm now employs 34 people full time and takes on seasonal workers at peak. The interview was conducted by Tiisetso Manoko.
Photo: David Shankbone / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Food for Mzansi
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