Tired of a hand-to-mouth salary that only covered her rent and transport, Thobeka Mbatha took a bold decision to hand in her resignation letter and pursue poultry farming. All she wanted was to make a better life for herself, and she succeeded. Mbatha is one of the inspiring women who was selected for the Corteva Women Agripreneur 2022, a year-long blended development programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) Entrepreneurship Development Academy (EDA).
Following her completion of grade 12, Mbatha immediately left for Johannesburg to seek a better life.
“In 2012 I started to work for a factory, we were producing cosmetics products. Firstly, I was just a general worker, then after three months I got a promotion working as a line leader,” she says.
The promotion, however, did not bring any significant improvement and she says she heard a voice inside asking if she would continue working for nothing.
Mbatha, a broiler chicken farmer based in Midrand in Gauteng, says she resigned from the cosmetic production factory because the money was just not enough.
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A TV programme – the start of something magical
“The day I decided to resign, I just woke up from sleep after getting home in the morning. I was working the night shift all the time. So I switched on the television and the programme called Shift was playing.
“They were interviewing the two partners of an agricultural company called Mkhize and Associates, who were mainly talking about chicken farming. I just paid attention and listened to the show explaining and advising about how to start your own chicken farm and I became interested.”
Mbatha says from that day onwards her first agricultural steps had been taken.
“I resigned without expecting assistance from anyone. I just took the risk of leaving the job and starting something else,” she adds.
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A journey of enlightenment
With the information and tips she got from the television programme, Mbatha went to knock on the doors of the Gauteng agriculture department and she was told what to do.
“I was funded by the department of agriculture in Gauteng to go to the KwaZulu-Natal Poultry Institute to learn more about agriculture, specifically chicken. The department gave me a grant.
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“I also did skills training at Mkhize and Associates where I graduated. It was at this point that I was armed with tools to kick-start my company,” she says.
Though she registered her company, Shandu Chicken Nest, in 2015, the operations started in 2018 with the help of the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller.
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Everything in place
“I applied for funding and I was successful in my application because I got the installation of a structure for 500 chickens with all the necessary equipment I needed. That was done in November 2019.”
Mbatha currently farms on half a hectare, where she has five more structures for broiler chicken productions. She has also started farming spinach to bring variety to her business.
Like many poultry farmers, Mbatha says the rolling power cuts are impacting her operations negatively as the chicks must drink and eat in the dark when load shedding hits her area.
There is also another challenge. “We also hire transport for delivery as we do not have our own transport at the moment.”
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Corteva programme
Mbatha says the Corteva programme caught her attention at the right time. “I told myself after seeing a post about the programme that this is just what I need to upskill myself. I applied and got approved.
“During the programme, I was exposed to so many things. Some of the lessons I learned was to think beyond my current production and be involved in the whole value chain.”
She adds that she got to network with other female farmers who motivated her.
“I gained a lot from the programme, I also learned new innovative ways of farming. The programme pushed us to find new ways of creating and increasing the value chain rather than lowering our prices. It ignites us to put action behind our thoughts and plans to ignite the country.”
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Community development
Her business operations have brought so much convenience, she says, as they are delivering the chickens to the doorsteps of their customers.
Providing for their community has helped everyone because they used to look for chickens far away from where they resided which was costly and tedious.
“We are contributing to the community through job creation as we have hired three people – two for poultry and one for the crops.
Mbatha has found her place in farming. It makes her happy and she is on her way to creating the life she has always wanted.
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