BBL PARTICIPANT: Grace Moropyane, Mamphogo, Limpopo Province
In a Nutshell
Through her participation in SocioTech’s Broad-Based Livelihoods (BBL) strategies to stimulate personal economic activity, Grace Moropyane from Mamphogo, Limpopo has never farmed before, and was inspired by the production and income she achieved in a short while. Her plans for expansion were cut short by failing water supply system. She is desperate for a solution so that she can continue farming.
She says…
I did the SocioTech BBL MyFood training in 2019. I had not done any food gardening before (not even as a child with my parents) so it was all new to me. I learnt all about trenching and how you must create good soil with cans and bones and then mulching and so forth. I really enjoyed the training, and I could see that growing food for my family and then selling surplus was a good plan.
When I received the training, I was very eager to start right away. I believe the Phinda-Phinda model of training other people works very well, and I have taught at least 10 other people about what I learnt at the SocioTech training.
I grow spinach, butternut, beetroot, carrots, and cabbage in my garden. Some people say that they can taste the difference between home grown and shop bought. Honestly, I can’t tell the difference, but I do understand the difference to my pocket – If I went by taxi to Marble Hall to buy vegetables in a supermarket, it would cost me R20 each way. So, that is a R40 round trip. Just for vegetables. It is better to grow them at home and save the money.
"....no water means no expansion into larger scale farming."
When I did the training, my hope was that I could produce for myself and create surplus to sell. I wanted to start small but gradually expand my land under cultivation and go into business. In my mind that would be good for me but also good for my community.
Sadly, that has not been possible. This community has been without water for almost 4 years now. We have to buy water at R50 per drum. It is not possible to farm without water. We get told different stories about what has happened to the water. Some say the dams have no water in them. Others say the pipes are blocked. I don’t know what to believe. All I know is that no water means no expansion into larger scale farming.
It is so frustrating because I have land and I have goats, so I have manure. All I need is water…
BBL PARTICIPANT: Jappie Tooka, One&Ten Community, Northwest Province
In a Nutshell
Through his participation in SocioTech’s Broad-Based Livelihoods (BBL) strategies to stimulate personal economic activity, Jappie Tooka from One&Ten Community in Northwest Province – in one single SocioTech training session – stopped seeing himself as unemployed and started seeing himself as a businessman. Discovering that he can control his life has set him on a strong winning path.
He says…
I first heard I was born here in One & Ten. People always ask why our village has such a strange name. Apparently, a long time ago the Meintjies family bought land in this area for two pounds and this portion of that land was worth one pound and 10 shillings in old money. Hence the name.
I first met Mpho and Jabu from SocioTech in October of 2022. The way that they work has changed the way I think about my life and my potential to succeed. From the first time I met them I understood that I can survive even if I am not working. I understood that unemployment is a state of mind because I can work for myself.
I went into that first meeting thinking of myself as unemployed and came out as a businessman with courage, confidence, and a plan of action.
"I can control whether I succeed or fail. I can control how I spend and save money."
I can control whether I succeed or fail. I can control how I spend and save money. I can decide what I need and do not need. Charles showed me that I can choose to spend money on things that matter, and avoid spending money on things that I might want but do not need. Like alcohol – people can spend a lot of money on alcohol, but it doesn’t advance your life. It can be difficult to avoid spending cash on unnecessary things, but if you focus, it is possible. I have a personal budget and I stick to it. Poverty comes from bad choices and making good choices can change lives.
Charles gave me a new mindset and the results of changing the way I think about life have been amazing. I am a changed man. I have savings jars and through them I have saved money. If I need shoes, I can buy them, because I have money saved. I can buy food for my family. I can buy electricity coupons and pay the burial society.
Not only have I changed but others in my family have been influenced by the changes in me. My son is 24 years old, and he is also living his life according to these principles. He knows how to save and the importance of a side hustle.
I have several side hustles. I sell clothes and shoes and I also market tombstones. I have a book of all the tombstone options. It has photographs and prices and I get a commission on every tombstone sold. In this area most people know that I am involved in the tombstone business, so if they need one, they come and see me and I make that happen for them. I also keep the album with me when I am doing other business so I can be ready if I meet someone while I am out in the community.
"Now that I know how to control what happens to me, I am confident that I can achieve my goals. "
The clothing I sell is mostly jackets and smart suits. I go to City Deep in Johannesburg where they sell good quality used clothes in bulk. I buy there and bring the goods back here to One & Ten. At our church men must wear jackets to attend services and ceremonies. This means that my fellow congregants are good customers. I also sell by going door to door in my village and also in the neighbouring villages. I sell about 15 suits and suit jackets every month.
The clothing business is working well but it is a means to an end. My real love is livestock farming. If you come back in 3 years’ time you will find me with land, cows, goats, and chickens. I am slowly growing my herd. I already have 2 cows that I keep in Brits. The suits and jackets are just a way of gathering up the money to buy cows. Cows are my passion.
It has only been a short period of time, but I feel so much better about my life. Now that I know how to control what happens to me, I am confident that I can achieve my goals. I can see that I am moving in the right direction. It is hard work, but I am seeing results. Other people can see it too. Lots of people ask me how I am doing this, and I always tell them to attend the SocioTech classes. I tell them that through this training they can change their lives. I tell people that they can trust SocioTech. They are honest and their workers do what they say they will do. Even when I am going house to house in other communities selling jackets, I tell them that SocioTech made my life brighter and gave me a clear perspective. I want as many people as possible to hear the good news.
BBL PARTICIPANT: Maria Seemise, Maubane Community, Northwest Province
In a Nutshell
Through her participation in SocioTech’s Broad-Based Livelihoods (BBL) strategies to stimulate personal economic activity, Maria Seemise from Maubane Community in Northwest Province has changed her perception of herself and sharpened her business skills. She has become confident about the profitability of her diverse businesses, and continues to encourage many others to be proud of their successful self-employment strategies.
She says…
I grew up in Ngobi village which is very remote and rural. As children we made all our own games – for instance I remember we used to pick and dry these wild red berries that we called mokgombata. They were so sweet. You could put them in a bottle, crush them with a stick, mix them with a little water and then use that same stick to dip and enjoy the lovely, sweet tasting mixture. It was like pudding straight from the veld.
My father made zinc containers and my mother had a vegetable patch which, along with wild morogo that we collected from the fields, fed our family. She also had a business buying fruit and vegetables from commercial farmers and reselling by going house to house. On the weekends, she would send us children to neighbouring villages to sell there. She would give us the 5 cents bus fare and we would go door-to-door selling. I remember we sold a bag of 3 tomatoes for 25 cents. We used to enjoy those trips. Mother would tell us how much money we could spend on food, and we would buy bread and achaar and eat it in the shade of a tree when we got hungry. I also took fruit to school to sell. I remember, when I was in primary school, we used to get a bus to Warmbad and then buy oranges from the farmers there. We would put the bags of oranges on our heads and walk (sometimes as much as 2 hours) back to the bus stop.
"....but throughout those years I also had a side hustle selling snacks on the commuter bus."
I was married for 16 years but the relationship was abusive so in 2014, my children and I walked away from that life. I bought a stand here in Maubane and made a new start. I worked as a domestic worker in Pretoria for many years, but throughout those years I also had a side hustle selling snacks on the commuter bus. I would sell to my fellow passengers on my way to work and again on the way home. I am proud to say that my business endeavours allowed me to pay school fees. My 21-year-old daughter (who is at TUT doing internal auditing) has an NF bursary but my 33-year-old son trained as a civil engineer thanks to the funds generated by selling on the bus for all those years.
In 2019, I had saved enough money to start a fish and chip shop in town and everything was going really well until COVID came. The business was too new to survive lockdown and it collapsed. That was a very bad time, but I picked myself up. Now I sell scones, vetkoek, sweets and peanuts and other snacks. I have a stall under a tree opposite the clinic and all those people coming and going buy from me.
I met the people from SocioTech and Sukuma in 2022. From the first time I met them, I liked their way of working. I am a born-again Christian, so I enjoyed the way that they promoted a relationship with God. I brought my wheelbarrow full of snacks to every training session because I could see that this was not just a way of learning new skills but also a business opportunity. My fellow participants bought from me during our classes.
"...but also a business opportunity."
"Now I can see which lines are doing well and which are not so strong. I can see how much is coming in and going out. "
I participated in the farming training and started a garden. It went well, but sadly we now have a problem with water on this side of town and the garden is not thriving. My problem with water is holding me back on the agriculture side, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t support this! I have introduced many other people to that side of SocioTech. For people who have water – they can benefit so much.
SocioTech’s MyBusiness training has helped me a lot. You can see from my story that I had a lot of experience selling, but before SocioTech I wasn’t keeping records. Learning to do that has been a big help. Now I can see which lines are doing well and which are not so strong. I can see how much is coming in and going out. I use my peanut sales as the backbone of the business – that is what I invest back in. The chippies and sweets – those are what my children and I use to fund our daily life.
More than anything, SocioTech has changed the way I see myself and my business projects. I have learnt to be proud of what I am doing and that I can go far with these methods. I used to feel ashamed and not confident in my way of life, but I know now that if people try to undermine what I do by saying ‘you don’t have a job’ I can say ‘so what? I am working here for myself’.
BBL PARTICIPANT: Martha Rametsi, One&Ten Community, Northwest Province
In a Nutshell
Through her participation in SocioTech’s Broad-Based Livelihoods (BBL) strategies to stimulate personal economic activity, Martha Rametsi from One&Ten Community in Northwest Province has turned into a passionate vegetable grower, and loves adding value to her harvested crops through processing delicious foods.
She says…
I first heard about the SocioTech and Sukuma training through a loudspeaker. From what I know, the traditional leadership in this area met with people from those organisations and decided to support their work. So, a car drove around the streets inviting us all to come to a community information session. I went to hear what it was all about.
I was already gardening in a very small strip at the back of my house along the edge of my fence, but what I learnt that day, changed my life. It was February 2023 – which sounds so recent – but so much has happened since then that it feels like it was a lot longer ago.
I have always eaten vegetables but not in the way I do now. Since learning about The Food Robot, I use it every day to guide my food choices. Eating The Food Robot way has improved my health in so many ways. I get the orange vegetables I need from my beautiful pumpkins and carrots. Green comes from my spinach or beans, and beetroots are my regular source of red vegetables. Even out of season, I always have a good supply of Food Robot colours because I pickle the beetroots I grow and dry morogo wa dinawa (bean leaves).
"I find that these days I am more excited by farming than I am by cooking. I love it."
I have an orange tree in my garden, up until now we have only eaten them fresh or squeezed them for juice but next season, I am thinking about making marmalade too. SocioTech has taught us how to make lemonade and lemon marmalade, but I am looking for a good orange marmalade recipe.
I find that these days I am more excited by farming than I am by cooking. I love it. Planting, then working and harvesting, gives me a lot of pleasure. Especially since the SocioTech Vegetable Tunnel came. Before the tunnel I had a big problem with wild birds and my neighbour’s chickens. If I compare the plants inside and outside the tunnel, it is easy to see that the ones inside are bigger, greener, and stronger. In some cases, the difference is very extreme – look at this strawberry patch next to my orange tree – those bad birds have eaten every strawberry!
My children have all grown up and they live in their own homes, but every time they come to visit me, I feed them with food from my yard. There is no greater love than the feeling a mother gets when she sees her own children eating healthy food. It doesn’t matter if your child is 5 or 50 years old, that feeling of joy in seeing your child well-nourished remains. It is a good thing that mothers feel that way because when my children come to visit, they collect up so many vegetables to take home. In terms of the effect that they have on my garden, they are worse than the birds!
I like to cook when my children are here, but when they are gone, I often don’t feel like cooking. Sometimes I just pick fresh, juicy carrots straight from my garden and eat them raw. That is so delicious and so healthy. And it requires no cooking.
" Sometimes I just pick fresh, juicy carrots straight from my garden and eat them raw."
I plan to expand the amount of land I am cultivating, and I hope to add some traditional vegetables to my crops. When I was a child, my parents grew leraka gourd and I love that simple but delicious taste – just boiled, eaten in the shell like a gem squash with a sprinkling of salt and/or sugar.
Those traditional plants need less water than the newer ones, which is important because water is a problem. When Nelson Mandela was first President, he came to our area, and he promised us piped water and we were so pleased when the water came, because up until then we were using boreholes. That was a wonderful thing but since then, a lot of new houses were built in this area, and I think the new water infrastructure they put in is struggling to cope. There seem to be leaks and the pressure is very weak. Especially here in the higher areas where I live. Water goes on and off.
Even with the water problems, my garden is doing well. I tell people that they must go to the SocioTech training, listen to the instructions, and follow them. Do that and success is guaranteed.
BBL PARTICIPANT: Nokuthula Toons, Kokosi, Northwest Province
In a Nutshell
Through her participation in SocioTech’s Broad-Based Livelihoods (BBL) strategies to stimulate personal economic activity, Nokuthula Toons from Kokosi in Northwest Province has been able to broaden her local client base, despite entrenched purchasing habits in local communities. She is grateful for the upturn in business, but continues to work towards better solutions.
She says…
I have a small patch of land under the Eskom power lines in Kokosi, Extension 2. The municipality can’t build houses there, so it is available for food production. If I am in a bad mood or have a headache, working in my garden makes me feel better. I have always felt that way. I grew up in a village called Pelepele which is near Bizana in the Eastern Cape - that’s where Winnie Madikizela Mandela comes from. When I was a little girl, my father grew and sold vegetables. All the usual stuff – mielies, carrots, cabbage, spinach and tomatoes. I used to help him with little jobs like weeding, watering, sometimes bird scaring, but my main role was selling.
Every day after school I would go around the neighbourhood, going house to house selling. I loved it because it was fun talking to all the customers and collecting the money. I was helping my daddy and contributing to our household. It made me feel good. I have tried to interest my son in helping me in my garden, but he says he isn’t interested.
"....but these days there are no jobs. No one in my house is working."
I moved here when I got married in 1997. I worked in the security industry for a while but these days there are no jobs. No one in my house is working. My husband has been unemployed for 5 years and for me it is 11 years. I make some money sewing – I specialise in making church uniforms – but life is very hard. And sewing is not good for my eyes, the more I do it the more I struggle to see – even things like WhatsApp messages have become hard to see.
I decided to start a garden because I lost confidence in the idea that there would be jobs in the business sector. If I wanted to make an income, I was going to need to make it happen for myself. I needed to make sure that my children had food to eat. I was gardening for a few years before I met the people from SocioTech and during that time I managed to feed my kids because we ate from the garden, but I wasn’t making a lot of sales. It is disheartening when you work hard and don’t get orders. I thought I would follow my father’s example and turn the vegetable garden into a small business. I have tried those same techniques that I used as a child of going house to house here but sadly they didn’t work well. In this community people don’t support local growers. I don’t know why, but it seems that they would rather spend the money on a taxi to go to a supermarket. It makes no sense, because it is R15 to get to town which is R30 spent before they have even started to shop. And the quality of the vegetables in Shoprite is not good. Often it is not even fresh. And who knows what chemicals they put on their products.
Then I met the SocioTech team. The first one I met was Charmaine. One day about a year ago she was driving around the area and she saw me working, so she stopped and invited me to a meeting. That was how I started with the SocioTech training. I liked the techniques and the people seemed to know what they were talking about, so I continued with the training. It was quite hard work and many of the people I started with did not complete the course, but I am so glad I did. The trench beds and the SocioTech BBL Vegetable Tunnel have improved the quality and the quantity of my crops. The look of my crops has improved a lot. The spinach I grow is big and green and beautiful. Now people walk past, and they order from me. I have got orders from about 10 new customers. I am delivering to them, and things are going better. Everyone who sees my spinach says ‘wow!’ I am beginning to get local support which is making me feel much happier.
"It is little and slow, but it is happening. "
Through the SocioTech MyFuture programme we learnt techniques for marketing our products and I am beginning to see the results working. It is little and slow, but it is happening.
Even with the up-turn in business the problem of our people wanting to buy at fancy shops far away rather than from local small business growers still exists. It is not just me, all the farmers in my area have the same problem with a lack of local support. We have discussed it amongst ourselves, and we think that perhaps the solution is to find more land so that we can grow more crops. Once we had sufficient output, we might be able to approach the supermarkets and the schools about ordering in bulk. I don’t know.
What I do know is that I am feeding my children, and I am keeping myself healthy. This is not perfect, but it is better than the alternative.
"What I do know is that I am feeding my children, and I am keeping myself healthy."
BBL PARTICIPANT: Elisa Nteo, Rankelenyane, Northwest Province
In a Nutshell
Through her participation in SocioTech’s Broad-Based Livelihoods (BBL) strategies to stimulate personal economic activity, Elisa Nteo from Rankelenyane in the Northwest Province has gained personal and business confidence that she is using to create a better, brighter future for herself and her baby daughter. She has clear plans for her future and understands the power of her independence.
She says…
I was born in Bothaville in the Free State, and I came here in 2018. My first experiences in the Northwest were not good - I got caught up in a scam that promised jobs. That was a very bad time, but I survived. I became strong. Over time I have built myself a new life and now, in 2023, I am glad to be here.
I own my home which is opposite the school and also at a crossroads. The position means that it is an ideal location for business. I can attract students, parents, teachers, and other people passing by. I plan to make this place the start of my business career. I already have a tuck shop (selling cigarettes and drinks and snacks), two rooms to rent, a chicken coop with hardbody broiler birds, pigs and a vegetable patch with a tunnel from SocioTech. That tunnel arrived three months ago and has been a big help – before the mice were eating from my crops – the most recent harvest of cabbages, spinach, mustard greens, and carrots was plentiful because I was free from attacking mice.
"Don’t just dream when you should be getting to work.."
I am planning to start a car wash, a shisa nyama and a salon for hair and nails soon. My idea is that this place can be like a one-stop shop where someone like a teacher will be able to arrive to have her hair done and while that is happening, she can also wash her car and eat at the shisa nyama.
When it comes to business, I believe that you must just start. Don’t wait and be depressed or shy. Start small with what you have and gradually the business will grow. Talking to Charles from SocioTech helped me see that setting goals and making plans for the future is essential.
Dreams can get lost, but a plan that is written down and followed is powerful. He showed me to have a budget and stick to it. Save a little every day and over time all those efforts come together. Don’t just dream when you should be getting to work.
Charles also made me understand that I am my daughter’s role model. If I am strong and purposeful then she will learn to be those things too. I must set the example of what a good life looks like. I must spend time with her, reading, singing, and drawing and playing. I must make sure that she eats a balanced diet. She is a good little girl and eats everything I give her, so it is up to me to follow The Food Robot. If she eats healthy food that is because I gave it to her. If she eats unhealthy food that is also because of me.
I must insist that she respects herself and treats other people with respect. She must stand up for herself and learn to be independent. I want her to know that she doesn’t have to depend on others. You won’t suffer if you plough your own garden.
These are all skills and strengths that will benefit her throughout her life. I didn’t have those things when I was growing up and they made my life difficult. I had to learn those things the hard way but now that I know I can teach her. I can be the parent that I never had.
My daughter is what inspires my business. If I make my plans into a reality, then I can make sure that her life is easier than mine. She deserves good quality education in a private school but that costs money. If I put in the time and effort now, I can make that private school dream happen for her. I want her to be proud of me and be able to be in that private school uniform thinking ‘mummy started from here and did all this.”
BBL PARTICIPANT: Anathi Mphagele, Mfidikwe, Rustenburg, Northwest Province
In a Nutshell
Through her participation in SocioTech’s Broad-Based Livelihoods (BBL) strategies to stimulate personal economic activity, Anathi Mphagele from Mfidikwe in the North-West Province has gained additional agricultural and small business knowledge. She is working with her son (and their scarecrow) to create a future family business.
She says…
I come from Qokolweni – it is a settlement just outside of Mthata in the Eastern Cape - but I have lived in the North-West since I was 14, so this is my home now. I met Kwena from SocioTech through my neighbours, the Ralepelles. He held gardening training sessions at their house, so I walked across the road and joined the programme.
I had been gardening for several years before the training, but I didn’t know about deep trenches or soil improvement or spacing. Even though I have only been working the SocioTech way for about 3 months, I can already see the difference. These big, beautiful green leaves that you see here are amazing. They look great and they taste delicious. Some people have a sign at the gate to promote their crops, but I don’t even need to advertise - when my neighbours walk past, they see the garden in all its glory, and they come to ask if I will sell.
"People need to understand that in the beginning phase this method it is tiring."
At first, working the SocioTech way is hard work. People need to understand that in the beginning phase this method it is tiring. All that digging and collecting tins and paper and bone. When I did my first trench, every night when I went to bed my head hit the pillow and I was asleep immediately. Some of the people I trained with gave up at that stage which is sad because once you get over that initial workload, it is actually easier than the kind of gardening I was doing before. Once you have improved your soil with trenches and mulching, the earth is working with you. They call it farming God’s way and God is with you once you show that you have shown up to work with Him. When the bucket drip system goes in, it not only saves time but also money. And actually, the plants like it better – drop, drop, drop prevents overwatering.
Kwena told us that we should have several lines of business. That is the way to create profits and a good life. I agree that this is the way forward and I am exploring other business avenues. I like to bake so perhaps scones but people around here don’t have money to buy scones so I am not sure that would be a winner. I already have a business selling traditional chickens – those ones with tough but flavourful flesh and delicious eggs. The problem is that they only lay when they are walking around free. When you keep them inside the coop, they don’t lay eggs. But when they are walking around, they get so greedy with my plants! They like to walk around eating my spinach. I made a scarecrow to try and keep them out of the garden and that helped a bit but not enough. They were still always in the garden going peck, peck, peck. They were bad for business. In the early stages it is a total disaster – it just kills the tiny seedlings but even when the plant is bigger and stronger, no one wants to buy spinach that has bites taken out of it. So, I have had to keep them inside their coop, and they are not happy. Look at them! They are all sitting on that perch of theirs staring at the spinach.
"If something goes wrong or someone gets sick you have a safety net. "
I understand that the training must be shared. That is how it works at SocioTech – they teach you and then you pass it on. I really enjoy that part of the programme. I like to teach, and I have been showing my neighbours what I have learnt. I am also inspired by Zenobia, the more I watch her work, the more I want to become a professional trainer like her.
The budgeting side of the SocioTech training is also working well. Every R10 bunch of spinach I sell, I put R2 aside. That is not only good for me but also for my kids. Especially my 13-year-old son Odirile. He is at the perfect age to learn the SocioTech lessons. He and I work together in the garden, and he has an area that is his own little garden patch. I started him off with some seedlings and now he is selling for himself. He is also starting to save. I didn’t force him to do it, he just watched what I was doing and started to do the same. I see that if he sells R10 he saves R5. He says that his plan is to buy himself a phone. I am really so proud of his patience and hard work, because phones are expensive and that will take him quite a long time, but I see that he is determined. He is a lovely boy who has learnt that working hard and saving is not easy but that rewards come with time. He knows about skill, patience, and strength and those are the qualities that a man needs to succeed in life.
Sometimes when I am in my garden working, I do dream about the life I want for my family. I would love to see my business grow. I would love to see myself with more land and more crops. I would love to be working with my son in ten years’ time – him driving a truck and taking the vegetables we have grown on our farm to Shoprite and Pick n Pay.
"Sitting around feeling sad does nothing...."
Dreams have a place, but they are not enough, and I am careful about dreaming for a better future – experience has taught me that life is difficult, and disappointments are everywhere.
What has made me dare to dream is that I have been shown the method to make dreams come true. Sitting around feeling sad does nothing, but creating a clear plan and then staying with that plan, even when it is difficult, can be the beginning of something.
BBL PARTICIPANT: Daisy Zikali And Daniel Pebane from Greenspark, Northwest Province
In a Nutshell
Through their participation in SocioTech’s Broad-Based Livelihoods (BBL) strategies to stimulate personal economic activity, Daisy Zikali and Daniel Pebane from Greenspark in Northwest Province have developed a small business selling vegetables from their garden. They are eating healthy food and nothing is wasted. They are praying for continued visits from SocioTech.
They say…
Every morning my husband, Daniel Pebane, and I wake up, pray and then go straight to work in our food garden. We started the garden in 2001 and at first, it was just to feed ourselves and our three children but over time it has become a business. We sell fresh vegetables and also dairy products from our small herd of cattle. In these days of ever rising food prices, the fact that we can supply nutritious, delicious, reasonably priced food is welcomed by many in our community.
One of the reasons that we both love this business is that it allows us to work together as a family. My husband grew up on a farm in Bothaville. He spent many years as a herd boy, so he has a great love for cattle, milk straight from the cow and sour milk amasi. I grew up growing vegetables with my father. He was an instructor at the Western Deep Levels mining school, but he also grew almost everything my family ate. When I was a little girl, my mother went to the store for oil and things like tinned fish, but not much else. Every day, before and after work my dad was in his garden. Pumpkins, spinach, onions, tomatoes, you name it he grew it. And not just vegetables. He had fruit trees too. There were beautiful peaches, figs, grapes, granadilla, pomegranates.
"One of the reasons that we both love this business is that it allows us to work together as a family."
My mother knew how to make use of every part of a plant. If it was pumpkin season, she had something to cook from the flesh and the seeds and the leaves. Nothing went to waste. She made wonderful jam and bottled peaches in syrup. She canned beans so we could eat them all year round. She would make tomato sauces in summer that would see us through the winter. She would make sure we always had leafy vegetables by sun drying pumpkin leaves, bean leaves and also wild thepe leaves on a zinc sheet.
When we talked about The Food Robot with Zenobia, I recognised my mother’s way of cooking. No matter what time of year, her preserving of fruit and vegetables meant that she could produce plates with all the colours present.
We met the SocioTech team about a year ago. They were at the start of their programme in this region and the first thing they did was to drive around and look out for people who were already farming. When they saw our garden, they asked if we would be willing to help them connect with other people wanting to learn about food gardening and small business development. That was how we became involved. The first SocioTech meeting happened at our church and about 60 people attended. Many of the training sessions happened in our garden. That number fell quite fast and now there are only 11 active participants. That makes me sad, but you can’t make people continue. When people ask me why there was such a high a dropout rate, I tell them I think it was for two reasons. Firstly, for some people it was just about being lazy. Those people want help to be given to them. They don’t understand that hard work is what allows people to help themselves.
The second reason is more complicated. Many people said that they have been disappointed in the past by empty promises so they wanted to wait and see what would happen before they were willing to commit.
The SocioTech worker that we have had the most contact with is Zenobia. It is impossible to tell you how much we love her. Like a daughter. She has created a wonderful atmosphere. She made it possible for our community to work together in ways that we never had before. She took a group of strangers and created a family. She also taught us so much. My husband and I already had experience with various kinds of farming, but we learnt so many new techniques from Zenobia. With her help our farming methods have improved so much.
Even when many participants dropped out, Zenobia didn’t give up on us. She kept coming back to support those of us who were still working. She was always there when we needed her. The results of that support, kindness and guidance can be seen in our gardens.
Now many people come to me saying ‘we see that this SocioTech way works, and we want to join’ – that has happened increasingly since the tunnels have arrived. The problem is that now the programme has no more funding for this area. I say to those people that they must pray. With God’s help SocioTech will be able to return and take other people through the programme. In the meantime, we who have been trained are trying to train and guide the late-comers. I know Zenobia says that there is no more budget for this project, but we pray that more will come, because we love her so much. And we need her to come back. Even those of us who did the initial training have so much more to learn. We are praying for SocioTech’s MyPoultry training. We have benefited a lot from the MyBusiness training we received, and it has made me realise how many potential opportunities there are out there. With more business training I think we could expand and grow. Perhaps become suppliers for supermarkets.
The benefits of a food garden are many and varied. First is the financial side. Prices are rising all the time and as a family we are protected from that by growing our own food. Secondly, we can protect our neighbours by selling at affordable prices and make our own profit from the business side of that transaction. Then there are the health and happiness benefits. Every day my family becomes stronger and healthier because of the garden. Every day I see my children taking carrots from the garden and eating them straight away.
There is nothing nicer than watching your child eat healthy food. It makes a mother’s heart full of joy. I do understand that they are eating my profit but seeing your child well-nourished is the best feeling in the world.
BBL PARTICIPANT: Paulinah Letlalo, Maubane Community, Northwest Province
In a Nutshell
Through her participation in SocioTech’s Broad-Based Livelihoods (BBL) strategies to stimulate personal economic activity, Paulina Letlalo from Maubane Community in Northwest Province has had record results even as a first-time vegetable grower. The SocioTech Business Tools has unlocked a world of understanding and predictable profitability.
She says…
In the early 1980s, when I was still small, maybe about 12 years old, there was a farmer who used to pay me and my friends 50 cents a day to weed his mielie fields. We worked on weekends and school holidays, starting at 6am and working through until 5pm. We had no time to play around. We would weed the field one side to the other and then stop for brown bread and jam breakfast. Then we would turn around and do it again on the next side of the field. When we made it to the other side, there would be pap and beans for lunch. And then we would go back up again until it was all done. That was in Chester (Settlers) in Limpopo province. Looking back now, that sounds like a lot of work for very little cash but that was our pocket money for the whole week – 10 cents, 10 cents, 10 cents – kotas with chips, juice, and other little treats.
I did agriculture at school, but it was all theory. Our school had no garden but somehow our teacher, Mr Madumo, still managed to inspire me with a love for the subject. When I finished my standard 10 there was no money to further my studies, so I took various piece jobs to support my younger siblings. The one I remember most clearly was at Martilon textured yarn factory – I earned R48.00 a week working as a machine operator.
I had my first daughter in 1990. After 6 months I left her in the care of my mum and started selling food (kotas, pap and vleis, mogodu) at the Putco bus station in Marabastad.
"I left her in the care of my mum and started selling food..."
"...because i didn't know how to manage money.."
If I think about it now – with the knowledge I have gained from my subsequent SocioTech MyBusiness training, I understand why I wasn’t very successful with that business because I didn’t know how to manage money. I didn’t know to keep records and then study the patterns in my business to see what was working or not working. If my food didn’t sell, I used to give it away to people on the bus on the way home. They would all wait for me at the end of the day saying, “Mama, do you have food for me?” I was happy to give. I have been hungry. I know what it is like to walk long distances on an empty stomach. I was glad to be able to help but that is not a sustainable way to run a business.
Later I went into the childcare business. I love being around children. Everyone who knows me knows that about me. I love talking to them. When I was younger, I was that child who had things to say and wasn’t listened to and I never want others to feel that way. I started a day care centre in my two-roomed RDP house. I ran that business between 2011 to 2014 but the problem was that people would send their children without money and I couldn’t turn them away. I was taking food from my own home to cook for them. It was draining me and my children. Again, this is not a sustainable business model.
I think in a different life, if there had been more money and time in my family perhaps, I would have trained to be a social worker or a teacher. For a while I had an internship at the Poverty Alleviation programme within the department of Social Development. That started as a one-year job that was extended to two years. I monitored and evaluated the early childhood development programmes at creches. That line of work suited my tender heart very well, but then it came to an end.
"It was like a tourist attraction! "
I met Mpho and Pastor David from Sukuma in 2018. The first thing that drew me to them was the way that they were sharing the Bible. I was much more sceptical about the garden stuff. I wasn’t a fan of all that collecting tins and digging holes. I was there for the sharing of the Word. So, the first time I encountered them I focused on the scripture, but then in early 2023 I met them again, and this time they came with SocioTech.
"I was ready to see the connections between the gardening and the scripture. "
This time something changed, and as I listened to the agricultural talk, I was ready to see the connections between the gardening and the scripture. They were talking about gardening God’s way. Without chemicals – if there are problems, there is no need for pesticides - we were shown how to make a spray with grated Sunlight, thepe (amaranth) and blackjacks. So, I decided to give it a go. I started with 3 trenches and 2 months later I had my first harvest.
I was so excited to see those plants come up. I felt such love and joy. My spinach was so big, so green, so beautiful. There was one particular mustard green (we call it China spinach) that grew so big, it was almost as tall as me! People came from all over the location to see it! It was like a tourist attraction! People were so amazed. They asked “how did you do this?” All I could say was that that big spinach was my heart in a plant form.
At first, I was growing just for home use. In these days of rising prices there is a big saving if you can grow your own vegetables. I followed the guidelines of SocioTech’s MyFood teaching, so my first beds were planted with The Food Robot colours (Red, Orange and Green). I am gradually taking the garden from home use into business because that first harvest gave me more than I could eat in my household. I started to give my neighbours and fellow worshipers at church some of my produce. They liked what they tasted and asked to buy. That side is increasing, so I think it is becoming a small business. I am starting to dig more trenches – you can see here are the beginnings of trenches 4 and 5. My plan is to gradually increase the space under cultivation. If you come back in a year, I hope you will find even more of this area under cultivation.
I am sticking with the vegetables but so far, I am not finding it very profitable – I was shocked when I checked the accounts using the MyBusiness methods. There were start-up costs that have taken a lot of what might otherwise have been profit. For instance, I decided to pay someone to help me dig the first 3 trenches.
Record-keeping is what allowed me to see that I wasn’t making money. That is one of the wonderful things about the SocioTech MyBusiness training. It sounds so simple, but unless you keep records you will not understand what is happening.
When I looked at my records, I could see that there was more money going out than coming in. I look back to the years selling food in Marabastad and all that food I gave away. If I had known then what I know now, I could have been so much further in my business journey.
This realisation pushed me to think outside of the box. I was very inspired by the food processing classes that we did with SocioTech. I was at my sister’s place, and she has 3 avocado trees. And there were piles of unused fruit just being thrown away. SocioTech taught me that nothing should be thrown away, so my sister and I looked on YouTube and we saw a video on avocado oil. The first time we tried it didn’t work, but we persisted and now we have mastered the technique. You mash the flesh and put it in the oven on a low heat until the liquid has all come out and then you put the brown mixture in a cloth and squeeze to extract the oil.
"Record-keeping is what allowed me to see that I wasn’t making money. "
The avocado oil sells for R20 for 10ml, R110 for 50ml and R180 for 100ml. I put pictures of the bottles on my WhatsApp status to market the product and customers are coming. Some people cook with it – Chef Siya Kobo used it and said it was wonderful – but most customers put it into their skin lotions to nourish their skin. My niece has made beautiful labels. So far, the business has no name, but we must think of one. The avocado oil seems to be bringing in money. There are a few issues. The big one is that it is very time consuming – it takes a whole day to squeeze one litre. Also, not all avocados are the same – some are big and full of oil. Others are small and dry with a big pit and almost no flesh. There is also the issue about what we will do when avocados are out of season. We need to find a way of preserving them so we can press all year round. Finally, we know that currently the avocados are free but if the business grows, we will have to start buying extra. All these factors are important, but I truly believe that these issues can be resolved and that there is the start of a good business here.
I have been blessed. All three of my daughters are professionals but when a professional retires, they cannot give that profession to their children. Each of my daughters also has a side hustle – for instance my first born, Thabang, is a social worker but she also has a small business as a makeup artist. I have shown them all the SocioTech record keeping system and they all use it in their side hustles.
Even my daughter Lebogang (who is a finance intern) uses it. All these years she used to try and explain money management to me. Even when she was in matric, she would show me her textbooks but the way that they are taught is so focused on big businesses that it is really hard to understand for those of us at the small business end of the economic spectrum. I couldn’t see how her theory was relevant to my daily business issues. It was too complicated and too overwhelming.
The SocioTech methods set out the same concepts but in a way that an ordinary person can understand.
As you can see from my story, I am a person who wants to help those who need help but using the SocioTech record keeping method has shown me the impact that this behaviour was having on me and my family.
When you record everything, and you see that there is a shortfall – and you can see that the shortfall comes from all the giving – you understand what is happening. I am committed to always helping those in need. That is God’s way, but I have learnt that there are methods of giving that benefit others and do not damage me.
I am learning not to fish for others but rather that I can show others how to catch their own fish. For instance, teaching those in need how to make trenches and plant their own vegetables.
BBL PARTICIPANT: Lucy Msiza, Ramokone, Limpopo Province
In a Nutshell
Through her participation in SocioTech’s Broad-Based Livelihoods (BBL) strategies to stimulate personal economic activity, Lucy Msiza from Ramokone, Limpopo has all the fresh, delicious vegetables she needs for herself plus some surplus to sell to her neighbours.
She remembers the ways of life when she was a child…
I did the SocioTech BBL training with Mam Damba. I think it was just before COVID, or maybe during COVID – 2019 or 2020, somewhere around there. We learnt about deep trenching and mulching. Later I did the poultry training too. A lot of the talk was about (the maize planting method called) “Farming God’s Way” which reminded me of when I was a child. My parents didn’t use that phrase ‘Farming God’s Way’ but they used many of the same methods. No artificial fertilizer needed when you have a kraal with cattle. No hiring expensive tractors for planting when there is community support.
When I was a child, we all went into the fields to help each other when there were hard jobs to be done. When the soil needed tilling or the harvest had to be brought in, we came together to share the workload. Everyone had their own fields, but we had a feeling of community. No one expected to be paid for helping their neighbours. We called it ligima – we cooked and brought pap and morogo and milk. We shared our labour and our food. These days it is everyone for themselves. People don’t want to work. They will watch others work and then when the harvest comes in, they put their hand out.
That is not good. It is bad for adults, and it is especially bad for children. We have a generation of children who sit and look at their phones all day. They are lazy to go outside. When we were children, we worked with our parents and benefited from their knowledge and skill. We were considered part of family businesses, and we learnt by watching our elders and doing as they did.
"...they are delicious. Delicious and profitable..."
It wasn’t all hard work and no fun. My mother had cows and we children would try to milk them and if we succeeded, we would put fresh milk straight from the cow inside those mavilo (monkey oranges). That fruit is sour, so when you add the milk it curdles and makes a sort of custardy yoghurt. Delicious. And fun. Modern children don’t know anything about such things.
My garden is smallanyana space, but I have everything I need for myself plus some surplus to sell to my neighbours. The tomato picked straight from the garden is so much sweeter than one from a shop. The pumpkins I grow are bigger and tastier. And I get to use all of the plant. At the shops they throw a lot of the plant away – including a lot of the tasty bits. Leaves and stems get cut off. Those are often the best part of the plant. Why throw away pumpkin leaves when they are a delicious green vegetable? Just make a tomato gravy and add a pinch of baking soda to soften the leaves and you have a delicious meal that is full of vitamins.
Inside each pumpkin are many seeds. Dry them and they are delicious. Delicious and profitable – a handful like this is R10.
