KZN Chemical Engineering Graduate Grinds With Farm and Employs 10 People Permanently With Business

• A young woman in KZN who holds two academic qualifications is persevering with her vegetable farm
• Welile Gumede has faced many obstacles with her enterprise, with flooding requiring her to make drastic changes to her business
• Briefly News caught up with the resilient lady, who holds degrees in chemical engineering and one other field

A businesswoman from the rural area of Maphumulo in KZN is working hard every day to ensure her farm is a success.

Welile Gumede tells Briefly News that she holds qualifications in dental assisting and chemical engineering from Durban University of Technology, but struggled to find work in her fields of study:

“The reason I started farming was because I couldn’t find work as a chemical engineer. I then decided to create an income for myself and my family by starting a farming business.

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“I was an unemployed graduate working part-time at restaurants to make a living before farming.”

The KZN farmer has weathered many storms

Despite starting her farming business in 2018 in Madundube, due to the KZN floods in 2022, Welile needed to start over at Camperdown:

“I previously employed more than 30 staff members pre-floods. Since rebuilding in Camperdown, I have 10 permanent employees, six students, and created 20 indirect jobs through construction and other services at the farm.”

The entrepreneur notes that peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes are produced on the farm.

The young farmer wants to go into processing

The 32-year-old acknowledges that capital, barriers of entry to markets, labour, and community instability are a few challenges she faces.

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However, Welile still wants to expand her skillset and turn her farm into an empire:

“I want to get into agro-processing and the retail side of the business. I want to be part of the value chain from the garden to your table.”

Soweto Carpenter who makes Wendy houses ventures into vegetable farming to supplement her income

In another inspiring story, Briefly News wrote about a hard-working self-taught carpenter in Soweto who has decided to start an agricultural enterprise.

The young lady makes beautiful Wendy houses, and is an ardent businesswoman.

Talking to Briefly News, Zandile Khumalo explains that since business has been slow, she’s needed to supplement her income through vegetable farming.

Source: Briefly News