The Mineworkers Investment Company in partnership with the Department of Rural Development has launched a bid to ‘incubate’ start-up farmers in Limpopo as part of an enterprise development plan to create jobs and businesses. Initial focus is on the Thomo area, near Giyani. After that, MIC plans to roll farming projects out to the Modjadji Valley area near Tzaneen.

The empowerment investor has already demonstrated the viability of vegetable cultivation ED at Mkuhlu near Hazyview, Mpumalanga. Ten start-up farmers now cultivate approximately 42 hectares, providing work for 160 permanent and seasonal workers. Sales top R3 million a year. A multi-farm project creates volumes sufficient for integration into the formal retail supply chain thanks to a partnership with Shoprite and Freshmark. MIC – in collaboration with the DRD – launched the Thomo project with one farm. They are now looking to identify a second farmer before ultimately expanding the base to four or five farms on the Hazyview model.

Simultaneously, MIC is initiating a third project at Modjadji. Says Oren Fuchs, the senior manager in charge of farm-focused ED at MIC: “The first Thomo farm should approach break-even by 2015. “We’re also excited by ED potential in Modjadji where we believe it may be possible to identify dozens of candidates for project enrolment.” MIC, in tandem with corporate and governmental partners, supports start-up vegetable growers until self-sustainability is achieved. As more farmers enrol, the initial intake helps to train and develop newcomers.

As farms achieve profit, resources are redirected to enable the model to be replicated elsewhere. Building enough scale to alleviate rural poverty is the key challenge now that viability has been demonstrated, says Fuchs. “We’re creating a crop of energetic farm-based entrepreneurs,” he adds. “For more impact we need bulk. Therefore, we’re not only looking for new farmers, but new corporate partners. “It’s not only a matter of scoring ED points on BEE score cards, it’s about focusing corporate efforts where poverty and unemployment are most entrenched.

“Corporates demand ED solutions that work. Our model does just that. We can grow our way out of rural poverty one crop at a time – if we plant and harvest frequently enough at sufficient scale. We’ll be taking this positive message to potential corporate partners in the coming months.”