From nursing at a local hospital to building a multi-faceted agricultural enterprise in Acornhoek, Mpumalanga, Bennedicter Mhlongo’s journey proves that sustainable growth is built season by season.
Popularly known as BenicaTheFarmer, the first-generation agripreneur has transformed a modest 15-square-metre backyard garden into a thriving hub of production, mentorship, and community development.
This isn’t the first time Food For Mzansi has visited Mhlongo’s story. We first caught up with him six years ago, when the cash crop farmer was tending an eight-hectare plot, supplying seven local supermarkets while dreaming of expanding into mentorship and agro-processing. Today, his vision, BeNica Farm, has evolved into a diversified, vertically integrated enterprise with a far wider footprint.
Roots of resilience
Mhlongo’s determination was forged through early hardship. Orphaned at a young age, he was raised by his grandmother, Lilly Mhlongo, an experience that instilled in him independence and a strong work ethic.
He completed his matric at Puledi Secondary School in 2001 and went on to study nursing at Sekororo Nursing College in 2003. Between 2005 and 2012, Mhlongo worked within government healthcare structures as a nurse, secretary to the hospital CEO, and communications officer at Tintswalo Hospital.
While working in these government healthcare roles, his interest in farming truly took root and grew. Although healthcare was his formal profession, he eventually realised that agriculture held his true passion and long-term vision.
Driven by this realisation, he took a leap of faith in 2013 and resigned to pursue agriculture full-time.
“I regard myself as a first-generation farmer because I did not inherit a commercial farming operation,” Mhlongo says. “I had to learn agriculture through experience, observation, research, mentorship, and most importantly, by getting my hands dirty.”
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From backyard plot to diversified enterprise
Mhlongo started a backyard garden spanning approximately 15 x 15 square metres. Growing a few vegetables such as cabbages, chillies, peppers, tomatoes, and spinach for subsistence, he used those early years as a classroom to learn about production, irrigation, pest management, and the realities of running a business. As he gained momentum, he formally registered his business as Benica Projects in 2016.
When Food For Mzansi visited him in 2020, he was still primarily a cash-crop farmer growing produce across an eight-hectare plot to supply seven local supermarkets. Now, BeNica Farm has matured into a multi-faceted commercial enterprise. Through continuous reinvestment, strategic partnerships, and government support programmes, Mhlongo expanded the operation far beyond basic crop farming.
Today, the farm produces a wide array of crops, including cabbages, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach, onions, butternut, beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, baby marrow, and various herbs.
To mitigate the unpredictability of primary agriculture, Mhlongo expanded into value addition by branching into agro-processing, producing honey from beekeeping, chilli sauce, atchar, lemongrass tea, eggs, and ice cubes.
He has further strengthened the business through dedicated agricultural services and mentorship, offering tractor services, produce aggregation, and training.
This expansion has allowed BeNica Farm to sustain a staff of 15 permanent workers and around five seasonal employees, depending on production cycles, while also serving as an active Work Integrated Learning (WIL) practical training site for students from TVET colleges and universities.
Weathering climate and environmental storms
Yet, building an enterprise of this scale in rural Mpumalanga hasn’t come without testing times. In 2026 alone, BeNica Farm suffered severe setbacks when devastating floods followed by a destructive veld fire wiped out critical infrastructure, including irrigation systems and fencing.
Rather than letting these crises derail his operations, Mhlongo leaned into risk mitigation through crop diversification, food-safety compliance, and sustainable production practices.
“Agriculture rewards patience, consistency, discipline, and resilience,” he notes. “There will be droughts, floods, fires, pests, and market disappointments. The farmers who survive are those who continuously learn, adapt, and get back up.”
Building a lasting legacy
It is precisely this capacity to withstand severe natural disasters that has enabled Mhlongo to look beyond short-term survival and focus on long-term impact. Having built a system capable of bouncing back from adversity, BeNica Farm now securely supplies retail stores, lodges in and around the Greater Kruger area, restaurants, hawkers, and local communities.
Mhlongo also aggregates produce from other small-scale farmers to help them access commercial channels, while serving as chairperson of the Bushbuckridge Farmers Association and authoring his book, Chronicles of a farmer’s life.
Looking ahead, his vision includes establishing a fruit and vegetable packhouse hub, a compliant agro-processing facility, and expanding the BeNica Farming Academy to mentor aspiring young farmers.
“My greatest achievement cannot be reduced to one award or financial milestone,” Mhlongo says. “What makes me proud is seeing what started as a dream grow into an enterprise that produces food, creates employment, and trains young people. Our philosophy is simple: We farm, people eat!”
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