She started out by raising broiler chicks in the garage of a house which allowed her to keep only 100 chicks (one box). But with hard work and determination she today has six chicken houses with a capacity of 2500 each. Mokwakwaila is located near Modjadjiskloof. “Although I am not where I would like to be yet, for now, I feel encouraged by the realisation that I’m not alone on this journey. “Knowing that I have created 16 decent jobs for other young women and young people in my village, gives me courage and satisfaction,” she explains.
Suzan trades as Mmadipeu General Dealer and has expanded her enterprise to include vegetable growing and goat farming. In order to further expand her business, she started selling and supplying subsistence farmers with groundnuts, mielie meal, animal feed, seed as well as fresh vegetables from her garden; all aimed at effectively addressing the complexity of rural poverty and its effects on the community. “My drive to start such a business was initially to be able to put food on the table, but subsequently, I was able to alleviate poverty and hunger in my community.
Also read: Small-scale organic rooibos farmers become climate-smart
“I also wanted to make farming products easily available to our people,” she explained. Malatji also added that her husband, Patrick Machete has been emotionally and financially supportive from the start. Her shop has also since grown to be a centre of learning. Stakeholders and roleplayers in the farming sector use it as a meeting place to share information on sustainable farming. A recent meeting included stakeholders from the agricultural sector convening to share experiences and information about sustainable food production to ward off hunger and starvation in the Mopani region.
These included seeds producers, suppliers of veterinary medicine for animal health as well as producers of day-old chicks. During the meeting, Nkhensani Baloyi from the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development encouraged farmers to follow Suzan’s example of always trying to explore possibilities to improve their standard of living rather than waiting and relying on handouts “Suzan has set a good example in this area and beyond that with determination and focus nothing good could be impossible,” she said.
“The fact that her business has progressed ever since she started without any intervention other than technical services from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is quite incredible,” Baloyi added. Like any other small-scale farmer in the region, the young farmer faces a number of challenges, which include a shortage of water and the high cost of electricity. Malatji concluded by stating that she would like to create more jobs to reduce unemployment in Mokwakwaila and the surrounding areas. For more information contact Suzan Malatji on 083 883 4028 or 076 596 1973.
