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MEMBERS’ MILIEU
2017 Smallholder Farmer of the Year
Thembalihle Hopewell Tobo
Hamu Samson Shuwisa
Meluxolo Mfoxo
Thembalihle Tobo joined the military in 1986 and was a soldier for
ten years before his love for the land brought him back to where his
roots are – Ndunge near Bizana.
In 1996 he started farming with maize and livestock. He cultivates
25 ha of communal land and owns a tractor and the necessary im-
plements. In the 2015/2016 planting season Thembalihle planted
14 ha of dry land maize and despite the drought managed to harvest
41 tons. He also planted 2 ha under the Jobs Fund project on which
his yield was 3,5 t/ha.
Thembalihle became a member of Grain SA in 2006 and is currently
the chairperson of the Ndunge Study Group. He is an active mem-
ber, organising meetings, conducting farmers days and he oversees
and maintains the trials.
He believes that with agricultural ac-
tivities in the area, the prevailing pov-
erty could be drastically alleviated and
by working together the Ndunge and
Bizana farmers could become the feed-
ers of the nation.
‘Thembalihle is passionate about far-
ming and keen to share his knowledge.
The fact that he was elected to be the
chairperson of his study group shows
that the community looks up to this
man,’ developing co-ordinator, Luke
Collier, observes.
Samson Shuwisa’s interest in farming started when he as young
boy helped his father in the fields. He bought his first cow when he
was still very young and today owns a herd of 120 heads of cattle.
He worked on the farm Goedehoop for over 50 years before he
started to farm for himself on a farm called Nooitgedacht, close to
Sheepmoor.
In 2009, Samson decided to plant more maize than what he needed
for home consumption and sold the rest of his maize. Two years
later, in 2011, he joined a Grain SA Study Group of which he has
been the chairperson for the past seven years.
He started by cultivating 1 ha of maize
as part of Grain SA’s Jobs Fund pro-
ject. Today, Samson plants 18 ha totally
funded by himself. His biggest dream
is to one day, in the near future, expand
his hectares to well over 100 ha.
‘Samson is an extremely hard-working
farmer. He started off cultivating 2 ha
and gradually grew to where he is to-
day – cultivating 18 ha with yields of
6 t/ha,’ adds developing co-ordinator,
Jurie Mentz.
As a young man of 25, Meluxolo Mfoxo joined his father on the farm
to help him. Now, 31 years later, he is a successful smallholder
farmer with a deep-rooted passion for the land.
Meluxolo farms with dry beans, maize, cattle and sheep on
Goedehoop near Ugie in the Eastern Cape. He soon realised that
even though he learnt a lot from his father, it was crucial to keep
abreast with new technology and decided to join the Umnga Flats
Study Group in 2013.
He attended various training courses ranging from Business Ethics
and Farming for Profit to the more practical courses like Maize and
Sorghum Production. With the knowledge he acquired and the men-
torship he received from Grain SA,
Meluxolo bettered the soil of his lands
and became more mechanised.
Meluxolo is working hard towards his
goal of becoming a successful com-
mercial farmer in the near future.
Developing co-ordinator, Luke Collier
adds: ‘Meluxolo is keen to learn and
he works hard to achieve his goal of
becoming a successful commercial
farmer in the near future.’
Thembalihle Tobo
Meluxolo Mfoxo
Samson Shuwisa
21
September 2017