Khauhelo Lebentlele

Khauhelo Lebentlele is a female farmer who is making it big in the industry

Khauhelo Lebentlele (59), is making her mark in the Free State agriculture sector. She recently won the provincial Female Farmer award in the subsistence producer category and in the process walked away with a R90 000 prize money.

The Lesotho-born farmer is looking forward to representing the Free State among women from all over the country in the national Female Farmer Awards that will be held in August.
Tell us about yourself.

I am a retired administration and personnel manager by profession and owner of Batloung Enterprises. I grew up in a farming environment in Lesotho as my parents were farmers. But it never hit me that I would become a farmer one day as I always thought that farming was for old-fashioned people, not modern ones like me. I met and married a South African man while I was working for the Lesotho government and, when my husband retired in 2006, we both decided to come to South Africa to start a new life. But, because of small yards in the country, we invested in a farm as we were used to big land.

How did you get into the farming industry?
I had always been a make-up girl and never wanted to be associated in any way with a farm, but fate caught up with me in 2006 when I moved to Free State after my husband’s retirement. When I got to South Africa, my husband and I bought a farm in Bloemspruit, about 12 km from Bloemfontein and we loved it because it was close to the city. I was bored as I was used to working in an office environment. I bought vegetable seeds for less than R100 just to keep myself busy until I got something better to do. When I bought the vegetables seeds I was just doing it as a cost-cutting hobby.

So what are you growing and selling in your farm?
I grow spinach, onions, peppers, cabbage and tomatoes.

You said you were just farming for fun, how then did you begin to be a commercial farmer?
The vegetables I was growing for my family were growing fast and were just too much for a single family, so people in the neighbourhood came up with a view to buying my vegetables.

When did you decide to take up farming as a full time job?
I started being serious about farming when I saw that I was making money from selling the vegetables. That’s because I love money and I am also an administrator. I saw that there was money in what I was doing.

How did you break into the farming industry?
Selling vegetables to neighbours was easier because they were always willing to buy my veggies. But as time went by I had to grow so I started visiting supermarkets and street vendors, telling them about my vegetables. Being new on the market, I was prepared to do anything to break into the industry, including offering to sell my vegetables at a lower price that my competitors. But the street vendors were very supportive; they advised me otherwise and told me they would buy at the same price as the previous white farmer.

What motivates you as a farmer?
When people notice my beautiful vegetables and enquire about buying them whenever they see my van. I won’t lie, the other thing that motivates me is the money.

What are the challenges of producing those vegetables and what do you think you need, to grow even bigger?
The huge problem that affects my business is climate change. Because of it we see the rain once in a blue moon and when it rains it does in storms that kill my vegetation. The weather is so bad and at the end we don’t know what to grow and when to do grow it.

If I could get hail nets and the vegetables tunnels then my business would be very prosper, no doubt.

Have you created any jobs in your business?
Yes, I hired five permanent staff and 10 seasonal workers to help me with the workload.

Has the department of agriculture helped you in any way to make your business a success?
The department contributed a lot to the success of my business. My husband was one of the beneficiaries of the mechanization support initiative. That equipment helps me grow more food in less time.

What are your best moments in the agricultural sector?
My best moment was when I was honoured by the Premier Ace Magashule and the former MEC for agriculture, Msebenzi Zwane with a cheque for R75 000 for being the sustenance producer in the business.

What is your advice to South Africans at large?
If the youth of South Africa focus more on the farming industry they will never go hungry and there is a wide opportunity of jobs. I challenge people, young and old, to roll up their sleeves, take their tools and go back to fields to work on our lands and the lives of all South Africans will improve.

No one will ever go hungry and the people’s lives will change for the better as they will be eating nutritious food.