Simon’s backyard farm feeds Sekgopo community
Small-scale farming is becoming a major contributor to food security. Such a small-scale is Simon Kapa (34) from Sekgopo village in the Greater Letaba Municipality (GLM) who believes he was born on the farm.
Although he realised this only later in life, he says he is now more determined to feed his community with his new found passion. He came to the realisation in 2015 when he was working as a security guard. His colleagues had a vegetable garden at their place of work and produced their own food.
He was asked by his colleagues to take care of the garden during the holidays when they went back home. When they returned they were impressed with his work and challenged him to start his own garden. “They bought me seed and working tools. Somehow my yield on vegetables was always better than theirs. “I realised I had a natural gift for growing crops and asked my uncle, Joseph Malesa, who is a farmer to teach me about farming vegetables,” he explained.
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He currently produces green beans and spinach in his backyard. Kapa also hopes to be a livestock farmer and as a result, he now has two goats which he hopes will grow into a herd. He has five hectares of land in the village which he is busy cultivating. “My biggest challenge with the acquired land is to find capital to buy a fence and install water. I have been approaching different organisations to assist with funding. GLM said I must first work with what I have to see if I am able to produce consistently.
“They will assist me with materials when I have proven myself,” he said. He currently has one assistant, Mohlatso Kgatla, who helps him with day-to-day work. For now, he is selling his produce to local villages but hopes to expand his distribution to larger markets as he starts farming on his larger land. For more information contact Simon on 063 304 0548.
