Mpumalanga HOD says during visit to Secunda that small farmers should also also produce seeds

Cain Chunda, the Mpumalanga head of the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environment, said small scale farmers produce food but they are unable to produce seeds to plant.

Chumba said this on Wednesday, April 6, at a potatoes harvesting event held at Esperanza Farms.

The Zimisele co-operative with 48 members began in 2008. They harvested potatoes last week to sell to the community.

Some of the potatoes and other vegetables were also donated to needy families.

The organisation annually donates part of their harvest to various non-profit organisations.

“We encourage farmers to divide themselves into different categories, like a group that plants, produces seeds, those who plant and those who harvest for the market.

“It is important that we look at value chain training.

“We cannot always buy seeds from the major producers, while we can produce them ourselves. The department supports every sector of the economy,” said Chunda.

“Let’s go out and encourage young people, especially the child-headed families, to become farmers.

“The country is faced with a high unemployment rate because everyone wants to go work in offices. They forget that they can only work if there’s food and agriculture,” said Chumba.

He said together with his counterpart in Gauteng, they have agreed that Mpumalanga should supply certain companies with potatoes in bulk.

Chumba said the market is open for emerging farmers, especially in the Gert Sibande Region.

He recently signed a 130 hectares land agreement with Sasol that will be used for farming purposes.

“We are in a process of fencing and developing the land.

“First, we will plant anything that will make the soil fertile. The soil and underground water are polluted and we, therefore, have to create smart climate agriculture.

“By so doing, we will be able to identify if it is the right soil in which to grow potatoes.

“We learned from the Covid-19 pandemic that employment can diminish but the food is needed more,” said Chumba.

He encourages the people of Govan Mbeki Municipality to be serious about agriculture, as more opportunities are being created on the land that is donated by Sasol.

He said even those who want to get into the legal cannabis business (marijuana planting), will be accommodated in the land.

Chumba said cannabis is a new business with a new market.

Norah Mamba, the Zimisele co-operative chairperson, said it took them three years to make a profit from their harvest.

“We keep a record of every harvest that we sell and we received enough training from the Department of Agriculture to get our farming business going.

“The department told us that we need not farm to eat only but to make money and we appreciate that,” said Mamba.