CLAU CLAU – Grannies in and around Clau Clau have been engaged in crop production for many years and they’re still going strong.
Operating as Impumelelo Women’s Club, it is led by chairperson, Gogo Catherine Mawunyela who has steered the club, comprising grannies, to win top producer household category in 2005. They won and received a floating trophy and a cash prize of R5 000.
It’s a collection of grannies in the communities who ventured into farming in 1984. According Mawunyela, when they started the project, there were 32 members, but some have since grown very old.
“We were offered this piece of land by Chief Mbuyane and Induna Ngwenya to alleviate poverty in our community. Another objective of our project is also to cater for orphans and contribute to funerals.
“To us, poverty is not only focused here in Nkomeni, but we have extended assistance to all the villages in our vicinity. Our numbers have dwindled to 26, including four men and four younger members.
“Our biggest challenge is water provision as we depend on a small waterhole. We’ve devised means to draw it into the garden to water our plants and at times we carry the water on our heads, to keep the plants alive,” she said.
Market-wise, she says they make do with people buying from the garden and they have vendors stocking from them and a variety of people from surrounding areas, supporting them extensively.
“This project has brought life to our community. We’ve been able to educate our children up to tertiary level and we have had jobs throughout,” she added.
They produce a variety of vegetables of high quality, but she noted that they do not have a tractor to help them, but till the land by hand, using hoes and rakes.
“We’ve been assisted on technical skills, over the years, by agricultural extension officers. As for expanding our market, we are content with people coming to buy here because when you venture into supermarkets, they want to buy at cheap prices, which is detrimental to our business as our expenses are high,” she noted.
What does the future hold for them?
“We want to expand our farm and grow potatoes, tomatoes and cassava. We also need a borehole and appeal to the community to prevent theft from our garden,” she concluded.
