The director of Ballarosa WIP Productions Pty Ltd, Nobubele Nzima, from Ngcwala location in Mthatha, said she started her poultry farming after working in retail for six years.
She was awarded as the Best Smallholder Farmer in the Women Entrepreneur Awards (WEA) hosted by Department of Rural and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR), recently.
“I started my farming journey from zero farming experience, just a lot of research and lessons.
“I basically self-taught myself farming, and right now I will tell you that it is one of the hardest things I have ever done.
“You see, with farming there is a lot of learning and unlearning, and the market is very unpredictable. The huge challenge we are facing as Mthatha farmers is high animal feed prices and I am in a project of producing poultry feed prices,” said Nzima.
She indicated her involvement in a project producing poultry feed for herself and other farmers in Mthatha.
According to Nzima, she has four permanent employees and one part-time worker.
Nzima added that she had entered the competition because one of the DRDAR employees called her and asked her to enter last year, but when she contacted the department about entering it was too late.
“They had already started with the process, so this year when I heard that they had opened applications again for the year I went and told the programme head that I am interested in entering this year and I believed I was ready, so I applied.
“I was shocked, but I knew that I deserved to win because of the work I put in my business, and I try to be compliant in terms of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), employee contracts, financial record keeping, and am not limited to operations management.”
She confirmed that it was her first time entering this kind of competition, and it is a great channel to learn not only about the business but also about themselves.
Nzima said she will invest the money in improving her business.
She said their Facebook page is Bellarosa WIP Productions Pty Ltd, on Instagram @BellarosaMthathaPoultry, and the contact number for orders is 063 353 5003.
