Vrystaat Landbou Jongboer finalis - Senwes Tuisblad

56
••• DEvElopiNG aGricUlTUrE
Two triumphant producers
continued from page 55
patience nolundi msengana
HARD wORK KEEPS yOu PASSiONATE
Fourteen years ago, nolundi msengana worked for
a fast food outlet, mnandi, as a cashier. She later
started her own business, selling clothes and shoes.
But her passion for farming was encouraged by the
environment in which she grew up and she started
her farming career with a herd of 20 cattle, 40 broilers
and a 1 hectare vegetable patch.
Patience wanted to increase her cattle stock
and plant maize, but due to limited land available to
her, she was unable to do so. In 2006, she heard
of the Department of land affairs’ PlaS programme
and submitted her application. She was fortunate
enough to acquire a farm in October 2007. the
farm is 370 hectares, of which 80 hectares are
grazing and 290 hectares are arable. When she
acquired the farm, she had no machinery, but she
soon bought two tractors, a planter, two discs, two
ploughs and a boom sprayer from the sale of her
cattle.
with Senwes's assistance, Patience was able to plant 100 hectares of sunflower.
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Patience Nolundi Msengana
SENwES TO THE RESCuE
In 2007 Patience managed to plant 20 hectares,
only to realise that she would need financial assistance
and mentorship to plant the rest. She
approached several commercial banks for financial
assistance, but with no collateral her applications
were unsuccessful.
Senwes offered her a production loan and appointed
a mentor (Derick Schempers). With the
company’s assistance, Patience managed to plant
100 hectares of sunflower, which delivered a yield of
1,3 t/ha. She planted 49 hectares of maize, with a
yield of 3,9 t/ha.
www.senwes.co.za • June 2010