“I Was Not Born To Be an Employee”: Qawekazi Fadana Breaks Barriers as a Free-Range Farmer in SA

• A local lady named Qawekazi Fadana runs a free-range farm in the rural Wild Cost, less than 100km away from East London
• The entrepreneur is among the few black women in a predominantly male industry
• With determination and resilience, the lady has broken barriers with her prospering Mhlelisa farm, where she runs stock and free-range poultry farming.

A 37-year-old entrepreneur living in Haga Haga, 70 km from East London, where her farm is situated, has enrolled in an entrepreneurship-related course at Stellenbodch Business School's Small Business Academy in East London, a local institution, to understand her business better.

Her journey showcases her entrepreneurial spirit and demonstrates the power of passion, dedication, and hard work in a competitive field dominated by the opposite gender. Raised with a deep love for farming in Engcobo, Qawekazi credits her entrepreneurial drive and farming skills to her mother, Philiswa Fadana, who has been a guiding figure.

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The businesswoman's passion and hopes for the future

On her farm, the businesswoman has sheep, which she gets wool from and slaughters for meat, cattle, which she sells to breeders, and meat and vegetables. Speaking on ways to ensure business growth, she said:

“I want to grow not only the size of the land but also the business and its wider impact to stimulate the local economy and community.

She added that the SBA programme has already broadened her mind to better ways of doing things that she might not have thought of, and that will make it easy for her to know how to fix some of the challenges associated with running a business.

Many parts of SA have influenced Qawekazi's love for freshly produced foods. She also notes that she is not one to be employed as she loves leading and is working towards uplifting her community.

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The Small Business Academy's core focus

The East London Small Business Academy is a partnership launched with the Border-Kei Chamber of Business and the Eastern Cape Development Corporation. It is one of the development programmes created for entrepreneurs in disadvantaged communities, with its roots steaming from Cape Town's economically underprivileged communities.

The SBA has helped almost 500 underprivileged small businesses, which are still operational. These businesses created over 90% of permanent jobs and over 80% of temporary employment.

Dr Armand Bam, the head of the SBA, is sure that the program carries the right tools to help small businesses overcome obstacles that may arise in their daily operations.

"Small businesses have been the backbone of our economy, both in the past and today. SMEs contribute over 60% of employment and nearly 34% of GDP in South Africa. The ripple effect of their impact on families, communities, and socio-economic development is immeasurable, but without solid business knowledge and support, too many of them fail.

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Explaining how the Small Business Academy helps entrepreneurs, he shared that it aims to close the gap for those involved in business but who have not been into businesses but have not necessarily learnt how to manage them.

The academy courses broaden students' minds and help them quickly adapt to the fast-changing dynamics of the business world, ultimately leading to greater profitability.

5 More farming articles by Briefly News

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• A young Limpopo farmer shared a detailed breakdown of his R58 298,00 borehole, and social media users were grateful for the share.
• A young man fulfilled his father's dream by starting a successful farming business that supplies for retail stores such as Spar.
• A 26-year-old makeup artist who started a poultry farming business in 2020 shared why she loved the farming field.
• A mother of one from Cape Town built a booming farming business after losing a catering business because of Covid-19.

Source: Briefly News