When Roseline Mapuranga stumbled upon the concept of aquaponics, it sparked an interest in farming that came at just the right time. A former construction manager, her explorations into aquaponics, and eventually hydroponics, was the reason she could feed her family during the Covid-19 pandemic. She is among the women selected for Corteva Women Agripreneur 2022, a year-long blended development programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) Entrepreneurship Development Academy (EDA).
Being curious about how things work seems to be a quality that has really aided Roseline Mapuranga in her career. Over a decade ago, she started accompanying her architect husband to the construction sites he was working at. The visits ignited her interest in construction until she eventually started working in the industry too.
“I started developing an interest in construction until I learned enough to manage a construction project from start to finish. So, I then ended up in construction, doing construction management.”
It was while she was managing construction projects that Mapuranga met Jeffrey Ndumo, who introduced her to the concept of aquaponics.
“’I had never heard of aquaponics before, so I did my research. The more I learned, the deeper my interest got, and I started becoming more interested in farming in general. My research led me to hydroponics, and after weighing the pros and the cons, I decided to that hydroponic farming was for me.”
A life after Covid-19
Mapuranga wanted to experiment with hydroponics farming first, so in 2019 she decided to buy a small hydroponics system to see how it works. She says she wanted to have a proof of concept to test out what she wants to do.
“I didn’t want to go into it without having done something on a smaller scale. I started teaching myself about how it works using the smaller system.”
For most farmers, starting a farming endeavour requires establishing a market for their products first. Going into farming without establishing a market is generally a huge risk. For Mapuranga, however, starting with the small system first before establishing a market ended up working out in her favour.
Shortly after obtaining the system, the country went into hard lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Construction was one of the industries that suffered the most, and since both Mapuranga and her husband were in the industry, their income suffered greatly.
“That system came at the correct time because I was able to use it to feed my family. We were also able to give produce to our friends, our family, and our community.”
After the lockdowns eased, Mapuranga started looking at ways to expand her operation into a new farming business. It occurred only then that she had not established a market for her produce.
“The relationship that we developed with our community throughout Covid was really special. They became our customer base. They actually solved our access to market problem.”
Pushing through despite the challenges
As a hydroponics farmer using the national electricity grid, load shedding is a massive issue for Mapuranga. She says the continued blackouts we are facing are really harming her business.
“The load shedding is terrible. We lost so much of our produce because now we could not run our systems as our farm is on the Eskom grid. We are now trying to raise funds for a solar pump or a generator, to counter the load shedding.”
Despite this challenge, Mapuranga is passionate about hydroponics. She says farming with this system is a much smarter way of producing food, and it is less difficult than conventional farming as well. She feels that with hydroponic farming, and other technological alternatives, farming can become more attractive to young people.
“People usually associate agriculture with old age and treat it like a retirement plan. But because we are introducing a different kind of way of farming to the youth, we show them that they don’t really have to wait until they are older to start farming”.
Though passionate about her business, Mapuranga recognises that passion alone will not help her expand it. This is why she joined the Corteva Women Agripreneurs programme. She says the opportunities offered by the programme are immense, and that, so far, it has opened multiple doors for her.
“I have nothing but praise for the programme. The lecturers that they have provided are people that know agriculture, and that have experience in handling challenges in the agricultural sector. Also, the networking opportunities that this programme has provided have been nothing short of amazing. You get to meet a lot of industry players, especially other women that have made it in the sector.”
Mapuranga has many plans for the future of her business, including the opening of a hydroponics training centre in her community.
“I want to have a facility where the youth and women can come and learn about hydroponics. I do not only want to teach them, but I also want to empower them in such a way that once they receive the training, we also assist them with access to land and access to finance for them to start their own units.”
To other women wanting to go into the agricultural sector, Mapuranga’s advice is simple.
“Don’t rely on anyone to make things happen for you. Of course, there are things you will need help with, like access to land. But there are also just some things that we need to put effort into to solve them. We need to put in the work.”
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