Njenga’s brief spell as farm-hand is paying off
Young farmer wins spot for top training
Khutso Njenga only started farming last year when he joined his uncle’s business TechFarma.
Just over a year later, the 27-year-old Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, lad is a finalist in the South African Breweries (SAB) Urban Agriculture programme.
Njenga quickly fell in love with farming when he joined his uncle’s business and today he runs a 24-hectare farm. He grows peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes in greenhouse tunnels. Recently, Njenga and his team harvested 3,750 cucumbers and delivered them to the Fresh Produce Market in Tshwane.
“I became a farmer to create jobs for others and to make sure people have access to fresh, nutritious and affordable vegetables,” he said.
Njenga’s passion paid off when he was announced as one of the nine finalists for the SAB Urban Agriculture programme.
The initiative is part of SAB’s flagship youth entrepreneurship programme SAB Kickstart, which invests in youth businesses.
Njenga and the other finalists first went through a boot camp which provided them with skills training, fieldwork and site visits, led by experts in agriculture.
The finalists will also take part in a 15-month business development programme focussing on technical and operational training, hydroponic infrastructure investment, mentorship and access to markets.
“I am thankful for this wonderful opportunity. It is not every farmer who gets to be given such valuable assistance,” said Njenga.
Phumzile Chifunyise, SAB enterprise development manager, said the urban agriculture programme aims to remove barriers of entry into the agriculture field for young farmers.
“As an organisation that is embedded in agriculture, our intention is to attract young people to the sector by alleviating the high barriers to entry such as technical and operational resources,” Chifunyise said.
She said hydroponic technology – the process of growing plants with added nutrients but without soil – is a highly useful way for farmers to grow their businesses.
“We are growing the presence of young farmers through the application of hydroponic technology to scale their business and link them to markets.”
This article was originally published in Vuk’uzenzele, which is produced by the GCIS