A cash injection boost through the Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC) and the department of trade, industry and competition (DTIC) has enabled a poultry farmer in Tzaneen, Limpopo to reach her goals and take the family business to greater heights.
The funding Patience Mlengana received from the DTIC was made with the key intention of implementing some of the aspects of the Poultry Master Plan, which were evident through her farming operations at PMM Agri.
Meeting objectives of master plan
“The objectives of the plan include stimulating investment, job creation, exports, and the establishment of black contract growers. The funding has enabled her to grow the business exponentially from producing 40 000 chickens per cycle to 350 000 per cycle.
“The PMM Agri is one of the fourteen companies that have been supported through the Agro Industry Fund, to the tune of almost R1.3 billion. More than 850 jobs have been created in the process,” the department stated.
Mlengana said taking over the business from her parents was not easy but she had to step in to keep the legacy of the family and many livelihoods that depend on the farming operations, especially in the community.
Her mission began with a loan from a commercial bank to add three chicken houses to the one her parents had built. The IDC approved the construction of the three additional chicken houses.
“It really makes me happy to have managed to grow my parents’ business from 40 000 chickens per cycle to 350 000. It is greatly inspiring.
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“Even more fulfilling is the fact that this business is impacting the lives of the local people positively, by creating employment for them and changing their lives for the better. We are providing jobs to 15 permanent and 30 temporary employees,” she said.
Mlengana said it is also encouraging when the government supports transformation, women empowerment, and rural economic development. She currently supplies Bush Valley Abattoir.
Growing the poultry industry
“There will always be room for growth in the broiler chicken industry in South Africa. The demand in the country exceeds supply, hence, we are importing more than 500 000 tons of chicken meat per year. The support that is provided as part of the Poultry Master Plan helps us contribute to increasing production in order to decrease imports.
“But to achieve genuine, meaningful and impactful transformation, the implementation of the plan needs to ensure that black businesspeople are assisted to occupy the entire value chain of the industry from parent stock, breeding, hatchery, growing broilers, to abattoir and milling,” Mlengana said.
She said she has started expanding the business by adding 18 more chicken houses. This will take her production to more than 1.2 million chickens per cycle. She is happy that an increase in production will translate into more jobs.
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