Farming runs in Mabunda family’s blood
When James Mabunda started farming in 1983 he never thought that the first seedlings he planted were to provide for his family for the next 40 years.
The Ahitirheni Mqekwa Co-operative in Daniel Rababalela village outside Giyani is now managed by James’ son, Adam who took over from his dad and turned the family farm into a business creating jobs for villagers. The farm grows fruit, vegetables, and herbs and has been supporting the village since it started all those years ago.
Adam says the farm started like any other farm in rural villages with one hectare of land allocated to him by the tribal authority. James was given a tractor, a disc plow, and a disc harrow from his former employers and he acquired the land from the headman of Daniel Rababalela.
After six months the community leaders saw how many crops he was producing and they extended his allocated land to ten hectares. “I started with the aim of planting crops for my family and with the experience I had, I thought that I should start my own farm and also help the community,” said James. After his land was extended to ten hectares, he registered his farm with the Department of Agriculture.
“We deliver to markets locally and nationally. “We supply the Miami processing factory when we have overripe produce, we also supply a factory in Johannesburg and Tshwane as well as Vijay’s Fresh Produce Market in Durban,” said Adam. “We have also recently upgraded the fence since livestock used to damage our crops.
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“We have also bought two new tractors and we now have four boreholes, since we suffered from water shortages in the past. “We have changed the old method of irrigation, we now use drip irrigation and upgraded our electricity supply to two-phase. “We also built a reservoir and a packhouse to store our seeds and crops before they are transported to the markets,” said Ntwanano, one of James’ other sons.
When the farm started they employed around seven people but now employ more than fifteen people from the village. In the nineties James won three provincial awards: He was named Farmer of the Year in 1993, was placed second for Farmer of the Year in 1994, and first again in 1997. Adam got involved in 2005 and he won the national award in 2008 for Young Aspirant Farmer of the Year.
In 2009 he won Youth Entrepreneurial Award from SABC and in 2016 he was a runner-up for Best Cooperative Productivity in South Africa. Contact them on 078 718 3060.
