When Roland and Libby Trout first met, they bonded over a shared love for nature’s beauty. Now, on the West Coast of the Western Cape, they’ve built a successful farming business, producing flowers for export, as well as fruits and livestock.
After starting with just a small piece of untouched land in the fynbos biome, the Trouts had a huge task ahead of them to make their dream come true. Turning that raw land into a thriving farm was not easy and required a lot of hard work and dedication.
Through every challenge, it was their love for each other that kept them going.
“It’s almost like God has ordained this. Without him, I would never have been able to achieve what I have. This was just a raw piece of virgin land,” shares Libby, who purchased the land before meeting her husband.
From homegrown to globally known
The first flowers the Trouts planted were local indigenous species, before branching out into flowers like leucospermum – commonly known as pincushions – which flourished in their microclimate.
They now grow high gold, soleil, and gold dust varieties, which they export to international markets, a major milestone they recently achieved.
“We are exporting majority of the straight stems (50cm) and the others that are shorter we make into bunches to share locally,” shares Roland.
Farming is a life Roland did not initially plan for, although he grew up on the West Coast, surrounded by agriculture. As a child, he spent his days exploring fields and helping his family tend to animals and crops. “We had cows, pigs, chickens, and land to plant our own crops,” he recalls.
Despite this upbringing, Roland initially pursued a different path. After working odd jobs to save up, he studied tourism in 2000, where his passion for flowers and landscaping started. This knowledge later became invaluable when he transitioned into farming.
“I use my tourism background to market our flowers. I’m marketing our work on social media and platforms like YouTube and Instagram,” he explains.
Libby, on the other hand, had always been passionate about flowers and agriculture. Eager to expand her expertise, she attended various training sessions, with a particular focus on mastering the cultivation of proteas.
“The indigenous flower, the protea, means so much to us [because] it’s traditionally the flower that grew in South Africa and we as Khoi people lived with them,” shares Libby.
Diversity is their secret sauce
The farm runs on a diverse and steadily expanding scale. Alongside their flower production, they began raising pigs seven years ago using ethical farming practices. To maximise profit, they sell the pigs to local abattoirs once the animals have reached their optimal size.
“We’re standing now at around 35 piglets that we’re going to sell to the abattoir here on the West Coast. We have sold before and we got a good grade for the quality of our meat. We’re going to supply them as soon as it’s the right weight. The going weight is good and the price is right,” says Roland.
They are a dedicated and resilient couple committed to their farm, despite the financial challenges they manage entirely on their own.
“We must buy feed, petrol, diesel, all that stuff. It’s a big burden because we’re doing it with our own money. This land was virgin land when we started. We made it like this,” Roland shares.
Living with a disability has not deterred Roland from his farming dreams. “I’m already mentoring people in other countries, including South Africa. I completed my agriculture training and diploma last year and plan to study further next year,” he shares excitedly.
Despite these hardships, they have seen significant progress over the past seven years. Faith plays a central role in their journey. “Every morning, I get up at five to pray until six. My saying is, if I have the full armour of God with me, I’m going to go forward,” says Roland.
Big goals, bigger hearts
Roland and Libby are ambitious and community-oriented. Despite their success, they remain eager to expand their farming operation to achieve commercial status. They have planted two additional hectares of flowers and are focusing on scaling their pig farming business.
Libby says, “Roland and I want to eventually be commercial. We want to be successful. Currently, in our status as smallholder farmers, we are ploughing back into the community.
“What our objective is to build a few houses – not massive mansions or anything like that – and to house women who have been traumatised,” she shares.
The duo has a strong desire to help vulnerable women in their community.
“We want to do this because we’ve both been exposed to trauma before; we know what it is to not be able to survive without help. We want to give women who have no shelter a home where they can be sustainable and plant and work and all of that,” Libby shares.
Together, they are committed not only to investing in their farming business but also to their community.
READ NEXT: Singing farmworker ready to take the Agri’s Got Talent stage
Get Stories of Change: Inspirational stories from the people that feed Mzansi.
