Create your own opportunities in the agricultural sector, says Mpho
Review spoke to small scale commercial farmer, Mpho Mpfuni who together with his partner, Gumani Khuliso, create their specialty hot sauce, Mulilo
POLOKWANE- The agricultural sector is one most shied away from, but is the most vital. Agriculture determines what we eat and when it is available.
Review spoke to Mpho Mpfuni, co-founder of Mulilo sauce who is a third year Bachelor of Commerce student in Cost and Management Science at the University of Venda. Mpho is a small-scale commercial farmer, producing mostly vegetables and his specialty “Mulilo” hot sauce and works alongside Gumani Khuliso who is a well-known chef in the Polokwane area. Khuliso says he has always aspired to be a farmer but it was not easy because there are not many opportunities available.
“When I first started farming, I was only producing for my family, the products were not available for sale.” He says the moment people tasted his products they would offer to pay for it. Mpho and Gumani own a 10 hectre farm where they expanded their business and have currently employed a total of 20 employees. He says they have plans to secure an additional 15 hectre piece of land, that will hopefully employ 100 workers but are delayed by funding. “It is not easy to find funding, when we started this business, we had to use money from our own pockets to finance everything”. He says he likes the idea of being able to work for his money, and the satisfaction he gets when someone compliments his products.
Mpho says people who want to venture into the sector should not wait for funding or help from the government, because help is not guaranteed.
“The government does offer help to aspiring farmers but it is always best to start on your own, if it means having a veggie patch in your backyard then so be it”.
