• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Lifestyle
veggie farming

Mandisa Bell is driven by her passion for veggie farming

10th August 2021
Podcast: How to access fresh produce markets in SA

Podcast: How to access fresh produce markets in SA

1st December 2023

Food For Mzansi serves as ideal launching pad for farmers

1st December 2023
Let this saucy oxtail recipe take you back down memory lane

Let this saucy oxtail recipe take you back down memory lane

1st December 2023
Arendse puts her eggs in many baskets while aiming for the skies

Arendse puts her eggs in many baskets while aiming for the skies

1st December 2023
ChickenFacts calls for new Poultry Master Plan amid trade turmoil

ChickenFacts calls for new Poultry Master Plan amid trade turmoil

1st December 2023
Food inflation fury grips Mzansi: BFAP sounds alarm

Food inflation fury grips Mzansi: BFAP sounds alarm

1st December 2023
In pictures: Safeguarding indigenous plants for the future

In pictures: Safeguarding indigenous plants for the future

30th November 2023
Food for Mzansi gives voiceless farmers a much-needed voice

Food For Mzansi gives voiceless farmers a much-needed voice

30th November 2023
The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group unveils the November 2023 Household Affordability Index, exposing surging expenses and stagnant wages affecting South African households. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Economic squeeze: Families struggle as costs soar

30th November 2023

Faces of Summer: Celebrate the rich history of Thokozani Wines

30th November 2023
Limpopo seeks revival of economy by putting farmers first

Limpopo seeks revival of economy by putting farmers first

30th November 2023
ICYMI: NW agri dept ramps up goat farming with handover

ICYMI: NW agri dept ramps up goat farming with handover

30th November 2023
Friday, December 1, 2023
15 GLOBAL MEDIA AWARDS
Login
Food For Mzansi
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
Food For Mzansi
Home Advertorial

Mandisa Bell is driven by her passion for veggie farming

by Nicole Ludolph
10th August 2021
in Advertorial
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
veggie farming

For Mandisa Bell, farming has always been her calling. She is working towards expanding her business. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi.

There are many challenges in the agricultural sector, but those challenges are simply fuel for a passionate veggie farmer like Mandisa Bell. Bell is one of the extraordinary female farmers participating in Corteva Women Agripreneur Programme 2021, a year-long blended development programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) Entrepreneurship Development Academy (EDA).

Mandisa Bell’s farming dream is one she has had since childhood. Like many young people in South Africa, she drew her inspiration from her grandmother, who would harvest veggies from her own garden to feed her family.

“When it was cooking time, she would normally go and pick veggies from her garden. That instilled the love of growing my own vegetables [in me]. In those days, we will [also] indulge in the guava and berry trees that she had in our backyard.”

The 41-year-old vegetable farmer grew up with her grandmother, Nowam Elsie Bell in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape and remembers the independence of their household. “For me, it was so amazing. The fact that she didn’t need to go to the shop to buy veggies. She just planted and made food out of it. We didn’t ever find ourselves without anything to eat. Back in the days, it was quite nice because people would share whatever they were planting.”

Driven by passion and faith

After graduating high school, Bell went on to study accounting and graduated from Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 2005. While working full-time in the corporate world, the mother of two started her farming business in 2014.  Currently, she is working full-time as a Project Cost Controller, but she hopes to become a full-time farmer as soon as she has the resources. For now, she grows and sells spinach and tomatoes.

Bell views her veggie farming through a spiritual lens. “It’s therapeutic and strengthens one’s faith. When you put that seed in the soil and you water it, all you think of is the day of harvesting. But there’s no guarantee that you will reap what you’ve sowed.”

She also recognises that farmers are critical to everyone’s survival, which is another reason for her deep passion for the sector. “I have realised that with farming, one can combat the scourge of poverty. One can feed the community. As farmers, we use God’s given gifts.”

Farming is not an easy profession

One of the challenges Bell faces is limited access to land. She is running CeeMa Services from her backyard and the backyards of some of her neighbours. She has applied for land through the department of agriculture, land reform, and rural development, but she is still waiting to hear the outcome of her application.

veggie farming Mandisa Bell is busy making her childhood dreams come true. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi.
Mandisa Bell is busy making her childhood dreams come true. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi.

She says that the issue of land is only one of the many challenges in the sector, but that “the challenge of acquiring the land could make one give up on an idea of being a farmer”.

Some of the other challenges, says Bell, are issues like the scarcity of rain caused by global warming and the lack of critical funding or capital to expand one’s business. As a woman, she says that she has also been discriminated against because of her gender. “Farming is mainly dominated by men. And they will always look down on you as a woman and say ‘you can’t do ABC’.”

To be a farmer is to be resilient, however, and Bell is no exception. “It’s not easy. It needs time, it teaches you to be patient, it needs discipline. But if it’s your passion, it’s something that you will do, and nothing can stop you from doing [it].”

To women trying to break into the veggie farming or other agricultural sector, she has the following advice:

“It’s about trusting yourself and knowing what you want. For me, having this vision of wanting to grow and feed the nation, [the challenges] don’t stop me. Whatever challenges I’m faced with, it always gives me that drive to push and to move. So, I would say, just give it your best. Yes, it’s not easy, but it’s doable.”

ALSO READ: Composting entrepreneur on mission to feed the soil

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • WhatsApp
  • Email
Tags: Corteva AgriscienceGIBS Entrepreneurship Development AcademySoilSistasVegetable farmer
Previous Post

2 busted after family of 5 killed on Harrismith farm

Next Post

How to start a tea farm in South Africa

Nicole Ludolph

Nicole Ludolph

Born and bred in Cape Town, Nicole Ludolph is always telling a story. After a few years doing this and that, she decided that she might as well get paid for her stories. Nicole began her journalism career writing science articles for learner magazine Science Stars and interning at Getaway Magazine.

Related Posts

UFakude ukholelwa ekwakheni ifa lo mndeni

UFakude ukholelwa ekwakheni ifa lo mndeni

by Vateka Halile
23rd November 2023
0

Kuthiwa ufuzo luyadlulela kanti kwaFakude, indodana yakhona, uSphamandla uhambe ezinyathelweni zikayise.

Owayengu-DJ uyibambe ngakho epulazini lakhe

Owayengu-DJ uyibambe ngakho epulazini lakhe

by Vateka Halile
25th October 2023
0

UMnuz Sizwe Mchunu ushiye ubukhazikhazi bemboni yomculo wakhetha ukuthula kwasepulazini futhi kungekudala unezinhlelo zokuqala nokuwuguqula umkhiqizo ngaphambi kokuwudayisa.

Podcast: Rearing goats for milk in Mzansi (with love)

Podcast: Rearing goats for milk in Mzansi

by Octavia Avesca Spandiel
8th September 2023
0

In this episode of Farmer's Inside Track, enterprise owner Mahundu Makwela, shares his expertise on rearing goats for milk in...

uMajola uphumelele ebunzimeni ezamela usapho lwakhe

uMaJoye uphumelele ebunzimeni ezamela usapho lwakhe

by Sinenhlanhla Mncwango
22nd August 2023
0

UNonhlanhla Joye owafunyaniswa enesifo somhlaza ngowama2014, walwa kakhulu ukuze aqhubeke ngokondla usapho lwakhe ngokulima nokufuya okwaba lubabalo olwamsindisayo .

Next Post
tea farm Farmworkers at Elandsfontein in Citrusdal harvesting Rooibos. Photo: Henk Kruger/African News Agency (ANA)

How to start a tea farm in South Africa

Arendse puts her eggs in many baskets while aiming for the skies
Inspiration

Arendse puts her eggs in many baskets while aiming for the skies

by Vateka Halile
1st December 2023
0

There is no stopping Anecia Arendse who has used childhood memories, tons of passion and acquired knowledge to build her...

Read more
ChickenFacts calls for new Poultry Master Plan amid trade turmoil

ChickenFacts calls for new Poultry Master Plan amid trade turmoil

1st December 2023
Food inflation fury grips Mzansi: BFAP sounds alarm

Food inflation fury grips Mzansi: BFAP sounds alarm

1st December 2023
In pictures: Safeguarding indigenous plants for the future

In pictures: Safeguarding indigenous plants for the future

30th November 2023
Food for Mzansi gives voiceless farmers a much-needed voice

Food For Mzansi gives voiceless farmers a much-needed voice

30th November 2023

This week’s agri events: 27 November-01 December

Podcast: Shoo, fly shoo! Steps to tackle flies on your farm

Vacancy: Marketing assistant at Food For Mzansi Group

Food inflation fury grips Mzansi: BFAP sounds alarm

Let this saucy oxtail recipe take you back down memory lane

How Food For Mzansi put the country’s farmers on the map

RSS From FoodForAfrika.com

  • $2 Million investment in fertiliser financing for Kenyan smallholders
  • AfDB empowers Tanzanian horticulture with $2.5m boost
  • Malagasy scientist wins $150k grant

THE NEW FACE OF SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE

With 15 global awards in the first four years of its existence, Food For Mzansi is much more than an agriculture publication. It is a movement, unashamedly saluting the unsung heroes of South African agriculture. We believe in the power of agriculture to promote nation building and social cohesion by telling stories that are often overlooked by broader society.

Podcast: How to access fresh produce markets in SA

Food For Mzansi serves as ideal launching pad for farmers

Let this saucy oxtail recipe take you back down memory lane

Arendse puts her eggs in many baskets while aiming for the skies

ChickenFacts calls for new Poultry Master Plan amid trade turmoil

Food inflation fury grips Mzansi: BFAP sounds alarm

  • Our Story
  • Contact Us
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright

Contact us
Office: +27 21 879 1824
News: info@foodformzansi.co.za
Advertising: sales@foodformzansi.co.za

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
Login

Copyright © 2021 Food for Mzansi

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.