Subsistence Farmer of the Year category (0 ha - 10 ha) Teamwork makes the task easier

November 2016

LOUISE KUNZ, SA Graan/Grain contributor and HELENUS KRUGER, photos

‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ This African proverb about teamwork sums up the success story of the winner of the 2016 Grain SA/Absa Subsistence Farmer of the Year award, Mr Mzwayi David Zuma (66) and his wife of 40 years, Goodness.

Together they work the 10 ha of arable communal land to which they have access, planting maize and soybeans. They also own a small number of livestock for own use. ‘I think what makes our job easier is that the two of us are united and we support each other,’ the 66 year old grandfather said in a DVD presentation presented during the awards ceremony.

Zuma was raised by his mother and grandmother and almost everything they did, involved agriculture. This developed his interest in agriculture and after the passing of these two influential women, he carried on with their agricultural garden. To him agriculture is life; something one cannot do without.

He joined Grain SA in 2002 and to this formidable team from the Estcourt area in KwaZulu-Natal, Grain SA’s expert mentorship has opened up a whole new world of possibilities. In the DVD the team mentioned this too.

‘We are harvesting more maize than we did before we joined,’ Zuma said and his wife added: ‘Although we were working hard and produced well, we were not even close to the level we are now with the help from the Grain SA programme’. Despite the late rains, they harvested 22 tons of maize from 8 ha planted.

The Zumas have their own unique way of planting – some maize is planted by hand, some by machine and some by their own technique, which yielded better than the other methods. With an effective new maize thresher, they will, however, no longer have to strip the cobs by hand. This thresher forms part of an initiative whereby Grain SA, government and agri-businesses joined forces to increase yields on communal land and to find more productive ways of getting the maize off the cob.

Increased production will mean more mechanisation and more training in terms of maintenance, management and marketing. With the help of their children, grandchildren and the spirited community of Umtshezi, this couple is ready for the new challenges that await them.

In his acceptance speech at the 2016 Day of Celebration, Zuma thanked all the women in his life who have supported him and made this achievement possible.

For the future he dreams of a bigger farm where his livestock can have separate grazing and not eat his crops! He would also like his children to become involved in the farming operation and continue with what he started. But for now, he considers himself blessed with the midlands of KwaZulu- Natal as his surroundings, a good harvest and a wife ’with a smile like the sun’.  

Publication: November 2016

Section: Grain SA