The 34-year-old farmer is currently producing butternuts, green beans, tomatoes, mustard spinach, spinach, and onions from her father’s six-hectare land in Nkowankowa Section B. Her business is called the Chosen Generations Vegetables and Fresh Produce Suppliers, which is based in the township. She also sells both broiler and layer chickens and is raising piglets which she hopes will grow to a point where she will be able to open a butchery to sell to the public.
From a young age, she has always loved doing the garden at home and after matric, she decided that she wanted to study agriculture, but her parents could not allow her to. “They wanted me to study something that will give me a secure future and that is when I did an apprenticeship in boiler-making. “I’m a qualified artisan, but after my tertiary education, I was still not sure what to do with my life.
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“Fortunately enough I got confirmation from a prophet, who told me to pursue agriculture. My parents still did not support this idea, but now that everything is working out they are now my number one supporters,” Mushwana explained. The young farmer currently employs four full-time workers and is hoping to make her team bigger as she has many plans still in the pipeline to grow her business. Last year she received R50 000 from National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), which she used to purchase irrigation equipment such as water pipes,
borehole machinery amongst other things.
She also acquired assistance from organisations such as Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), which helped her with marketing materials. The Greater Tzaneen Economic Development Agency (GTEDA) also assisted her with business training. Her advice to young people is that they must follow their dreams and persist no matter what, as nothing comes easy. For more information contact Tinyoko on 083 669 2223.
