Subsistence farming in an urban township
"My love for agriculture started at a very young age," Michael Baepane.
Subsistence farming cannot only be confined to rural areas as it is slowly on the rise in urban areas. Only 20% of subsistence farmers’ livelihoods are rooted in their farms according to a social scientist, Ann Bernstein.
We spoke to a subsistence farmer from Protea North, Michael Baepane, who is trying to change this statistic. Baepane has been farming in his yard since 2009. He says he fell in love with the agricultural sector during his high school years when he had agriculture as a subject.
“I have a very good hand in growing plants and even rearing cattle. My love for agriculture started at a very young age,” he explained.
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“It was just a small piece when I started but people were eager to come and buy then I had to expand it to the level it is at now,” Baepane said.
Baepane offers competitive prices for his vegetables and is passionate about feeding the community. One of the biggest challenges a subsistence farmer in an urban township such as Protea North faces is farming space according to him.
“I’m hoping a good Samaritan will give me a bigger place where I can grow vegetables so I can feed a broader community,” he explained.
He plants his vegetables seasonally and has varying vegetables with each season. He hopes to see his business grow to a point where he’s providing local supermarkets with vegetables and helping to ease the unemployment plight currently facing the country.
Not only is Baepane feeding the community around him with his subsistence farm, the farmer also practices good farming principles in unusual farming conditions such as making a concerted effort to conserve water which is a scarce resource in Southern Africa.
“I water my plants once a week. I water them on Mondays so I save a lot of water… this is where food is and you can make a living from selling vegetables,” Baepane noted.
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