Palesa Sotshongaye, a young farmer in South Africa's Eastern Cape, built a commercial farm on a 0.5-hectare family garden with money she saved from her student allowance, Food For Mzansi reports.
Raised in Upper Nxaxa village in Mount Fletcher, she studied business management at Ingwe TVET College from 2020 to 2022. A conversation in 2021 with her former teacher, Seshoba, changed her view of farming: "He always taught me that agriculture is not just about working in the field, but it is a business that can create employment and feed the community," she says. From 2020 to 2022 she saved her National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) stipend as start-up capital. "The most challenging experience was having to say no to myself," she says.
In 2022 she moved to Godini village in Qumbu, in the Mhlontlo municipality, where her family gave her the use of the half-hectare garden. She bought her first seeds and chickens, planted spinach and cabbage and turned a flat on the property into a poultry house. In 2024 she registered the business as Iphiko-Lokhozi Multi Purpose; she has since added potatoes and employs local part-time workers.
Water shortages, unpredictable weather and pests are constant problems. She harvests rainwater, makes compost and takes advice from the local agricultural extension officer. Despite repeated applications to government departments, she has received no outside funding and runs the farm on reinvested earnings.
Her produce and poultry now go to local households, nearby schools and the Boxer and Spar stores in Qumbu. She plans to fence a five-hectare plot she has been allocated, buy a tractor, build a proper poultry house, move into agro-processing and study agriculture. Her advice: "Start small, be patient, learn the soil and chicken, visit your local agriculture office, and never give up."
The report was written by Lisakanya Venna for Food For Mzansi.
Source: Food for Mzansi
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