Unlocking market opportunities for young farmers
With a scarcity of youth in agriculture, Solidaridad, ICCO, LIMA, and HelloChoice? have partnered up on the FarmerToMarket project, funded by the European Union
The project assists emerging smallholder farmers gain access to high-value chain markets by digitizing their fresh produce online and gaining access to a wider market, through a simple and easy way of selling their produce digitally off their farm.
Lerato Botha (25) is a second generation farmer who has set out to build an enduring career in agriculture. As someone who grew up on a farm, she remembers farm work constituting a big part of her play time, and could very rarely distinguish between the two. Farming has therefore through the years proven to be a constant love in Lerato’s life. It was whilst pursuing tertiary education – Lerato was studying psychology with the hope of getting into law – that the shift happened.
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Between her academic pursuit and her time on the farm, she found herself taking stock of her life in order to find her true passion. Lerato later switched her course from psychology to agronomy.
Tila’s Herbs Farm, situated on the West Rand, is a 22 hectare plot with 17 cultivated hectares and an onsite pack house. The farm was founded by Lerato’s father, Jimmy Botha, 15 years ago.
The growth trajectory of the farm is one that took place right under my nose and this serves as the great motivator for me, said Lerato.
She now looks at her father as a mentor in translating her theoretical knowledge into practical applications. In its inception, Tila’s Herbs focused on two cash crops, basil and rocket, and perfected the discipline it takes to yield A-grade harvest. It later expanded into other crops such as curry, coriander and lettuce.In retrospect, conversations around legacy played a key role in attracting Lerato to agronomy.
After seeing how the business had funded her academic ambitions throughout the years, she started thinking about what would happen to the business should her father pass on.
Occupying the front row seat to the quality of decisions that had triggered our growth over the years puts me in the best position to spearhead our future growth, said Lerato.
No business can thrive without overcoming a few challenges and for Tila?s Herbs, one of those challenges was access to formal markets. Attaining the right certification for both local and Global Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) opened the door for the farm to supply formal retailers.In 2019, Lerato registered Tila’s Herbs on the European Union funded Farmer2Market programme which is being implemented in Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.
This programme is set out to address the barriers that smallholders face in accessing formal markets. Through the programme, smallholders are able to attain local and global GAP certificates, enabling them to be linked to formal markets. A lot of smallholder farmers find themselves confined to trading with informal traders because of lack of certification which serves as the key to accessing formal markets. The key factors in GAP are those that matter to high end value chains such as traceability of produce, operational hygiene, fertilizer and chemical application, water management and record keeping.
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With Lerato already qualifying in the aforementioned, it became easier for the programme to link Tila?s Herbs with export markets through a contract with Yukon. Tila’s Herbs will be supplying Yukon with beets, which is an opportunity Lerato is enthused about as it grants the farm access to a diversified market.
We are excited about reaching wider markets such as the one we have through the contract with Yukon. However, our primary focus remains feeding South Africa,” said Lerato.
It is with this sentiment in mind that Farmer2Market project manager, Solidaridad, together with its implementing partners ICCO and LIMA have partnered with HelloChoice, a digital trading platform for fresh produce trade that connects farmers directly to buyers in South Africa. Through an open and transparent market and price discovery mechanism, HelloChoice offers buyers and sellers the opportunity to be a part of a community of people that are interested in true value and streamlined profitable transactions for both parties. Such partnerships prove that when market stakeholders partner with clear objectives, they can make markets more inclusive.For more information on Solidaridad, visit www.solidaridadsouthernafrica.org
