After enrolling in the College of Africa to study electrical engineering, Miskien Machethe, founder of Miskien Farming Project struggled to find her footing in the academic world. For a long time, she felt uncertain of her future.
As the weight of disappointment bore down on her, Machethe found herself at a crossroads, grappling with questions of purpose and identity. Then she dropped out of college due to financial constraints.
“While I was home, I experienced depression because I was not doing anything, but I realised that I love cooking,” Machethe explains.
“However, when I needed to cook, I struggled to get certain vegetables from my nearest supermarket. I had to take a taxi to town, which is a few kilometres away. The thought came to me to buy a few seeds and I planted them.”
Machethe says she started planting cabbages with her grandfather’s help in their one hectare backyard and it came out well.
That was more than two years ago. Today, she is growing cabbages in a little village called Itielen, planting on a one-hectare backyard plot.
“At first I hated even the thought of cabbages and planting them and I didn’t want to take this journey because I had been told that it was not an easy one. But my grandfather, Simon Motabene, who has a background in gardening, was there to support me and he bought me 200 seedlings,” says Machethe.
Also, the chance encounter with a TikTok video showed a different side of agriculture. Scrolling through her feed, she stumbled upon the captivating content of a pioneering figure in the world of farming and rural entrepreneurship.
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Battling the elements
Machethe says she loves seeing other female farmers succeed, despite not knowing them. Seeing them grow crops at the scale that they do gives her hope that one day she will be just like them.
“At the moment I sell my products in bulk to local supermarkets and my customers are coming back to me to give me positive feedback about the quality of my cabbages and still wanting to purchase cabbages from me. It makes me realise that I am doing something noticeable out there,” she says.
Her journey has not been without challenges. Farming in the sweltering heat of Limpopo’s summers is no small feat.
“The weather is still a real challenge because it can get very hot this side; at some point my cabbages got damaged. Last season it was very hot and I lost a number of my cabbages to the heat. The heat is also very dangerous to young or small cabbages.
“Sometimes when it gets extremely hot, there is no rain. To water them myself is not enough because the soil gets dry very quickly. At the moment I have no irrigation system,” she says.
That’s why Machethe prefers the winter. She has, however, learned to look for different cultivars that she can plant in various seasons and that can adapt.
“So in winter, I plant a winter thriving cultivar and because it doesn’t get too cold this side, my crops are not affected negatively,” Machethe explains.
Turning passion into profit
With a keen eye for market opportunities and a flair for branding and promotion, she transformed her humble farming project into a thriving business called Miskien Farming Project Pty Ltd, forging partnerships with local shops, community members, and schools eager to support her endeavours.
“This has not been an easy journey but I thank God that I am still standing and my business is also still running.
“I think at some point I wanted to give up because I was struggling with land and I wanted to plant more, but I could not. I remember motivating myself to keep going and not give up. In the next five years, I see myself branching into livestock farming and creating more employment opportunities in my local community.”
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