Press release
Africa has an estimated 33 million small-scale farms. Collectively, they produce almost 70% of Africa’s food supply, yet 90% of South Africans living in poverty are in rural areas.
The barriers to success for small-scale farmers on the continent are plentiful – from limited access to capital and markets, to evolving climate change risks.
But according to Gene Likhanya, macadamia farmer and CEO of Madimbo Agri Group, arguably the biggest hurdle is a lack of technical know-how on both farming practices and business acumen. “I know farmers who have been farming for 15, 20 years, but haven’t managed to make much out of it. They just never understood the value chain, and what is required for a product to be acceptable in the market,” says Likhanya.
As a successful farmer and industry leader in his area, the old Venda region of Limpopo Province, Likhanya attributes the start of his success to mentorship from his neighbours. This is where he first tapped into and witnessed the power of knowledge sharing.
“When I started in 2005, I didn’t know how macadamia was priced. I didn’t know how it was processed. And I couldn’t go to the internet to ask questions. I had to go to my neighbour who had trees that were older and more established. It was intimidating, but they knew how passionate I was about farming, so they answered all my questions and offered their support,” says Likhanya.
With mentorship from his fellow farmers, as well as hard work and dedication, Likhanya grew his 2.5 hectares to 17.5 hectares of macadamia and spinach crops. “Self-funded to this point, I realised that although the money was running out, there was business to be done in macadamia and we needed to scale our operations. The higher the production, the cheaper the processing costs and the more leverage on pricing,” he explains.
Attracting investment
The SAB Foundation played a crucial role in supporting the expansion of Likhanya’s farm to 30 hectares. “In 2019 I was invited to a farmers’ indaba, and a representative from the SAB Foundation was there as part of the programme of speakers. I just took a gap and went to introduce myself, what I do, and the problem I was trying to solve. And that is when the relationship with the SAB Foundation started,” says Likhanya.
According to the SAB Foundation, Gene was already making an impact in his community when they met him. “We had a sense of his ability to positively influence other farmers, so it was easy to walk the journey with him because there was a value alignment. We believed that he was someone who could have a much bigger impact in his community in rural Limpopo if we backed him,” says Itumeleng Dhlamini, Head of Programmes at the SAB Foundation.
A rural catalyst
By increasing the Madimbo Agri farm to 30 hectares, through access to mentorship and capital, Likhanya and the SAB Foundation worked to solidify his standing as a leader in the area. Upon this basis, they created a small-scale farmers’ consortium that could equip other farmers for sustainable success.
“We played a critical role in the birth of the consortium. We needed to make sure that Gene had the right business processes in place to operate as a formal business which could spearhead the group for collective success,” says Dhlamini.
Likhanya receives ongoing mentoring and, in turn, mentors 12 other small macadamia farmers through the co-operative. The SAB Foundation has assisted all 12 farmers with land preparation, access to water, seedlings and everything else required to extend these farms to reach five hectares each.
“Just as I needed help from my neighbours all those years ago, other farmers in the area lean on me for real-world issues they are facing around trying to scale their businesses,” says Likhanya.
For Dhlamini, even more exciting than the growth of Likhanya’s business, is the impact it is having as a rural catalyst for fellow farmers. “Apart from the success of Gene’s farm, he has the ability to have a much broader impact. There is a trust that the community has in him, which he’s been able to build over many years.”
One of Likhanya’s mentees, a female farmer named Aluwani Mulaudzi, is one of the direct recipients of the halo effect of knowledge sharing and impact investment. With no water on her property, Mulaudzi would push a wheelbarrow for kilometres each day to nourish her orchards.
“People in the area couldn’t believe that a female was being given land to farm,” says Mulaudzi. “Through the SAB Foundation’s support, we now have the irrigation system we need to water our plants, we have a storm house, we have a reservoir, and we have electricity with solar backup,” says Mulaudzi.
The growth of Mulaudzi’s business has contributed to the local economy and the livelihoods of women in the area. “Women can buy directly from her farm and resell the produce in their community, says Dhlamini.
The ripple effect of community
Whatever Madimbo Agri Group does as a business, Gene says it must inspire the next leaders in society and empower young, upcoming farmers to do even better than he has.
“As a culture, we know the value of the god-given arable land that we are standing on. But it is useless if we can’t use it as a community to empower each other’s lives,” concludes Likhanya.
Watch the story of Gene Likhanya and the Madimbo Agri Group in their own words on YouTube.
Photo by MiguelZalazar on Unsplash
