In Limpopo, on a one-hectare piece of land, Mphoke Makwala spends his day affectionately caring for close to 300 broiler chickens before selling them off to informal markets.
The labour of love has helped the founder of Makwala Agri escape unemployment and poverty in one of South Africa’s most under-resourced rural provinces. He is based in Botlokwa, Polokwane.
“It was never my plan to go into agriculture, I wanted to go into property. One day I had a conversation with my uncle who is a farmer. He told me to start with farming because you can generate a lot of money and then buy property,” he says.
While studying at Damelin College where he completed a qualification in financial accounting, Makwala bought land with money he had saved up. When he graduated, the prospects of finding a job suddenly looked slim, unlike his varsity friends who had family businesses where they could work.
A trio of jobs to fund his dream
After his big purchase, Makwala went home to ask for money from his mother and was greeted with a disappointing no. “Mom said if I wanted to do business, I had to do it with my own money.”
So to fund his farming dream, the young hustler worked three jobs. On any given day in 2019, Makwala delivered parcels for Takealot or food orders for McDonald’s, all while completing an internship at the department of education where he earned a basic salary.
“One income took care of rent, the other of groceries, and the other was for my savings. In that year, I saved more than R100 000. I then went back home to start my business,” he shares proudly.
100% profit goal setting
At first, Makwala was not sure what he would farm with. All the first-time business owner knew was that he wanted a business that would ensure he earns profits with pace and efficiency.
“I can’t invest in something that will generate money after six months. I need something that will generate money in two months,” he told himself.
At first, he settled on layer chickens but realised he would have difficulty selling. They are also too expensive to raise for a beginner farmer, he explains.
With broilers, Makwala says, the market is fast and he is able to generate money much faster.
“I took R30 000 and built my first chicken house. Then I took R7 000 to raise 200 chickens, and after six weeks I made R14 000. I immediately realised that there was money to be made in farming.”
ALSO READ: What you need to set up a broiler production
Growing pains
But Makwala made a mistake by only building one chicken house.
“When you run a poultry business you can’t run it from one house. I didn’t know that. In my first year of farming, I only did four cycles and you can’t survive with that kind of money,” he explains.
Makwala fixed the problem by building another chicken house.
“With two chicken houses, I knew that I could sell each and every month.”
Last year Makwala Agri did a cycle of 200 and 300 chickens. He spent between R7 000 and R8 000 to raise them. At four weeks he starts selling the chickens and his goal is to have all the chickens sold by week six.
“I approach my business on a 100% profit. If I put R7 000, I’m going to get R7 000 back.”
Plucking the benefits of YouTube
The path forged by Makwala has inspired thousands of aspiring poultry farmers. According to his YouTube agri channel subscriptions, more than 4 000 look up to him.
“I started my YouTube channel because a lot of people reached out to me asking if I could teach them how to raise chickens.
“I realised that there was a gap in the market because when you search the internet about chickens you don’t get South African content. It’s information from farmers in Brazil or America. I realised that I could do something similar but bring it home for a South African audience for people to relate to.”
Makwala sees the channel as an opportunity to share information while generating additional cash.
“The YouTube channel is not for me to make money now but to make money when I retire. That content does not expire and I can earn money. Now I am creating royalties that I will enjoy later,” he explains.
He says people respond well to his content. “I get a lot of DMs from people telling me that they started farming because of me. Even brands are starting to call me to collaborate.”
ALSO READ: Podcast: The economics behind poultry farming
Long road ahead
With all that he has achieved in such a short space of time, Makwala believes he still has a long way to go.
“I’m still building and I’m still in the beginning stages. For me to determine my success would be to see how many people I have helped become farmers. That’s when I’ll say I am successful. I need to bring up other farmers, money does not make me successful.”
Building towards quality
Like most poultry farmers, Makwala is challenged by the cost of feed and quality chicks. He says as a small-scale farmer, he is used to getting third-grade or rejected chickens from hatcheries.
“The hatcheries get a lot of orders. The big poultry farmers order thousands of chickens and the hatchery will give those farmers quality chicks. Whatever is left is given to the small-scale farmers,” he explains.
Makwala says this happens especially around the festive season when the demand is high.
But complaining about challenges has not gotten Makwala to where he is. And it won’t get him to where he wants to be.
His priority is to now grow his YouTube channel to 100 000 subscribers and succeed in crop farming. Makwala plans to build his first greenhouse in the next few months.
“When you want to do business, choose something that you think you will love and have passion for. You may say that you want to go into farming but you may not like the smell of a chicken house,” he says jokingly.
ALSO READ: It’s a poultry paradise for #SoilSista Mbatha
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