Meet Doornkop sugarcane farmer Vusi Gumede

Second generation farmer Vusi Gumede has refused to let the devastation of Covid-19 put a dampener on his dream.

Vusi owns Bongi Mpumelelo Trading, a farming operation focused mainly on sugar cane.

He was born into a farming family in Doornkop and his father continues to work in sugarcane after more than 40 years.

“My father began work as a foreman for a family in Doornkop and he has grown to lease his own portion of land today,” said Vusi.

Along with his sister, Vusi would work on the farm during school holidays in order to earn some ‘Christmas money’.

“We did not always want to be working but when Christmas came it was nice to have some extra money. My father fed us with his farming, I will never forget that,” recalls Vusi.

Throughout his high school career, Vusi learned the tricks of the trade and eventually found his way back to farming on his own.

He initially studied business management but found that a calling to return to Doornkop had never left him.

“I did not finish my time at Berea College, but I still learnt a lot about business which has helped me on the farm.”

He returned in 2017 and began to work for the same family that his father had done before him.

He started with a loan of R1.5 million from the Gledhow Sugar Company to lease 120 hectares of land, 90 hectares of which had been planted with sugarcane.

The first 2 years were difficult, learning how to run the operation himself and having to lease machinery during harvest season.

“The machinery was our biggest cost so we soon tried to find a way to buy our own machinery so that we could start seeing profits.”

Enter the Mintirho Foundation, a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola brand, which has a fund of R400 million to promote the development of historically disadvantaged farmers.

Vusi reached out to them in early 2019 and he was able to secure funding of R2.5 million. With the money, Vusi was able to replant 60 hectares of substandard crop regrowth which he hopes will increase his yield in the coming years.

“I am so grateful to Mintirho. I am now able to pay off the Gledhow loan faster and buy some of my own machinery for harvest.”

In 4 years, Bongi Mpumelelo Trading has grown to produce 2 200 tonnes of cane per harvest with full-time employment for 12 Doornkop locals.

The production dropped slightly during Covid-19 as he often found farming aids like herbicides and fertiliser difficult to come by as worldwide imports ground to a halt.

“We were able to keep all of our employees on the payroll which is the important thing and with good rains we think next year is going to be our best.”

Aside from sugarcane, Vusi has also diversified to rear sheep from 2019 and goats from 2021. These will be sold as livestock into the surrounding communities.

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