At a time when unemployment is at a high, a group of young people in Misty Mount in Mthatha collaborated with their qualifications to start a co-operative focused on agriculture, creating jobs, and skills transfer in the process.
Greenvines Agricultural Cooperative (Co-op) Ltd is an agribusiness founded in 2017, and is owned by five young people.
The co-op runs several smallholdings.
Speaking to Mthatha Express, co-founder and managing director, Neziswa Mlenzana, said the founders put their qualifications together, to give birth to Greenvines.
Mlenzana has a Bachelor of Commerce Economics and Statistics degree from Nelson Mandela University (NMU), and Vegetable Production from Buhle Farmers Academy.
Nomfusi Nkanzela has a Diploma in Agriculture from NMU, and a BA Environmental Management degree from Unisa.
Palesa Tyathuza holds a BA degree in Geography and English, and honours in Geography.
Tabo Sitsheke holds an Entrepreneurial Skills qualification from North West University, and Akhona Bokolo has a Poultry Production qualification.
“We also use vermiculture farming for creating compost, as an input for our vegetables and soil health. We supply lettuce, cabbage, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, and herbs to supermarkets, street vendors, and a pack house. We have registered our co-op with CIPC,” Mlenzana said.
The co-op has also received assistance from Nyandeni Local Municipality.
Mlenzana said that the support was in the form of 12 nets, three barbed wires and nails, a wheelbarrow, two spades, and a rake. They also received a plain wire, a hand saw, a gate, and eight poles. The support given amounted to R30 000.
“We offer technical support to other farmers in a form of training and consultancy. We hire community members in our operations. We partnered with The Movement in Africa Non Profit Company which has helped 20 community members get employed in the social employment fund from Industrial Development Corporation, working in two school gardens receiving training, seeds, and a stipend,” Mlenzana said.
The co-op has a new member who doubles as a mentor, Inganathi Swana. She said she would like to see Greenvines grow and become a brand to be reckoned with.
Swana said there was a huge importance on the value chain.
“The vision is to get more people on board, and with the support we get from government and other organisations we hope this vision will come to pass. We hope to contribute on a very much bigger scale,” Swana said.
“As a co-op, we are intentional about employing young people, because we feel they need a platform to harness their skills and gain experience,” said Mlenzana. “We also expose them to training, workshops and networking events. Those who have entrepreneurial aspirations we encourage to start their own businesses. In the next five years we would like to grow our co-op production capacity up to 50 hectares of production, thus creating more than 200 new jobs.
“We would like to have a packhouse where we store, wash, process, and package fresh produce with our Greenvines Logo.”
The dream, for Mlenzana, started at university. She said her consciousness about unused land in the villages, and the inspiration from her father, drove her to the agriculture fraternity. Her retired father, she said, worked for the then Department of Agriculture.
The unemployment rate among young females was estimated at 49,4 percent in 2024. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) – Q1: 2024 indicated the official unemployment rate was 32,9 percent in the first quarter of 2024. The results of the QLFS indicate that the number of employed persons increased by 22 000 to 16,7 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.
The number of unemployed increased by 330 000 to 8.2 million during the same quarter.
Additionally, the number of people not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 214 000 to 13.1 million, while discouraged work-seekers decreased 1 000 in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the fourth quarter 2023.
This resulted in a net decrease of 215 000 in the not economically active population. This is according to the May 2024 Stats SA statement.
