SA Graan November 2015

Sold his taxi for a tractor

hile working as a taxi driver, Mr Daliwonga Nombewu,

2015 Grain SA/Syngenta Smallholder Farmer of the

Year, became interested in farming, saved money and

bought his first tractor in 2002.

He then became involved with a programme called Massive

Food Production where he developed a greater interest in farming

activities, after which he sold his taxi and decided to buy a second

tractor instead. Today, Nombewu, who hails from Mthatha, has ten

tractors with a range of equipment enabling him to earn money as a

contractor, while running his farming operation.

He started off with 2 ha land and currently farms on 13 ha of arable

communal land with shared veld for his sheep and cattle. To expand

and produce crops on a more viable scale he has recently entered

into a 20 year lease agreement for an additional 64 ha.

“You don’t start farming today and tomorrow you are a successful

farmer. You have to work very hard,” he said during a DVD presen-

tation shown during the awards ceremony.

He mainly plants yellow maize which he markets to wholesalers and

also keeps some for feed purposes. He has furthermore done trials

with dry beans as there is a large market for dry beans in his area.

Nombewu joined the Grain SA programme in 2009 where he

attended various training courses. “I want to thank Grain SA for

presenting these courses to us. You teach us how to produce maize

commercially.”

During his speech he said that he is grateful and honoured to be

presenting the Eastern Cape at this great occasion. “It shows that

the Eastern Cape has people with skills. I would also like to pass my

thanks to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on

all levels.”

1: Daliwonga Nombewu sharing this significant moment with his

wife, Zoliwe Rhum.

2: This award is made possible by Syngenta. Louw Steytler

(chairman: Grain SA), Linda van der Merwe (head: Customer Marketing,

Syngenta South Africa), Zoliwe Rhum, Daliwonga Nombewu and

Jannie de Villiers (CEO: Grain SA).

November 2015

GRAIN SA

Awards ceremony

Smallholder Farmer of the Year category (10 ha, but producing less than 250 tons)

RUTH SCHULTZ,

SA Graan/Grain

contributor and photos:

HELENUS KRUGER