Siyavuna grows in local agriculture
Executive director Oxolo Mofokeng said Siyavuna aims to empower small-hold farmers with training initiatives.
The Siyavuna Abalimi Development Centre, an agricultural NGO operating from Ray Nkonyeni and Umdoni communities, has made inroads in agricultural initiatives meant to alleviate poverty and unemployment for young people.
Executive director Oxolo Mofokeng said Siyavuna aims to empower small-hold farmers with training initiatives.
“Our project is currently funded by Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC) through its social employment fund to create jobs for young people. Other funders are DG Murray Trust, First Rand Empowerment Fund, Allan Gray Philanthropist and the Natal Portland Cement Huaxin. We provide training to farmers and the youth to grow chemical-free vegetables through our SETA-accredited Siyavuna training programme. This includes weekly in-field mentorship and connecting participants to our local Siyavuna association, where they meet monthly for knowledge sharing, learning, and refresher training,” said Mofokeng.
“Our participants benefit from a guaranteed market, allowing them to grow for personal consumption, and sell to neighbours, and any remaining produce of good quality, regardless of quantity, can be sold to Kumnandi, our Siyavuna brand. We then sell this produce to local restaurants, shops, and urban areas,” said Mofokeng.
According to her, for crops like paprika, beetroot and amaranth, participants don’t sell them to the community, as they are grown specifically for markets that have committed to purchasing from the Siyavuna.
“In 2022, we established a processing unit where beetroot and amaranth are value-added. We produce beetroot powder and amaranth powder, which are sold in health stores in Johannesburg and Sandton. Again in 2022, we were selected by the IDC to be one of the implementing partners for the presidential stimulus fund’s social employment fund,” said Mofokeng.
Mofokeng added that they have been implementing the program since then, working with 1 049 youth.
“What makes this project unique is that each youth is paired with an elderly farmer for knowledge sharing and in-field mentorship. Participants spend half their time working in their homestead gardens and the other half at local schools,” she said.
She concluded that they work with 35 schools, where participants grow vegetables for the school feeding schemes at no cost to the schools, as the participants are remunerated through the social employment fund for their contributions to the common good.
NPC Huaxin spokesperson Smangele Tshabalala said it invested R500 000 in Siyavuna and Oshabeni small farmers to support them in their initiatives to create jobs for the unemployed.
“We bought Siyavuna a vegetable drying machine for the paprika project. It’s funded through NPC Simuma and quarry social labour plans. We have supported five farmers from the Oshabeni community,” said Tshabalala.
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