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Phathutshedzo Israel Nthulane produces fresh and big heads of cabbage, as well as tomatoes, sweet potatoes and spinach. 

Fresh, leafy harvest despite harsh weather

 

Phathutshedzo Israel Nthulane from Lwamondo Tshalovha is a local young farmer who manages to plant and deliver fresh produce to his clients, in spite of the harsh weather conditions.

Phathutshedzo is a qualified firefighter and owner of an events-management business. He said that he had fallen in love with farming when he was just a boy, as his father had been a farmer ever since he could remember. “As a young boy, however, I didn’t like to help my dad on the farm. Farming to a child is considered hard labour,” he said.

However, in 2018, Phathutshedzo used a piece of his father’s land and started tilling the soil and prepared it for planting. “I realised that even though I had a qualification in firefighting, I could earn a living for myself,” he said. “I had first-hand experience in farming and started right away.”

He believes that fortune comes from the soil, as the elders would say. “I am my own boss. As long as I am able to buy a bag of mealie meal and some relishes from my profits, I am happy. I don’t believe in resting on one’s laurels, so I still dream big and would like to expand my business. At the moment, I plant cabbage, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and spinach in a 20-hectare field,” he said.

His greatest challenge is a lack of water, but he looks forward to raising funds to drill a borehole for his small plot. “There are several of us small farmers in the area, and we all depend on the little water from a stream that courses through our village,” he said. “One has to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to collect water, or else there will be nothing left for watering the plants.”

Phathutshedzo currently has two workers but hopes that he will be able to create more jobs in the near future. “I want to work hard and never give up on farming. I am not doing it under pressure from anyone. I just love it and it sustains my life, so I am not going to quit,” he said.

He supplies his produce to vegetable stall operators and individuals around Vhembe. Phulusani Nemahunguni, one of the stall operators, said that he happily bought his produce from Phathutshedzo. “He’s always prompt with deliveries and his vegetables are big and fresh.”

 

 

Date:20 June 2021

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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