By Vateka Halile
From a young age, Xolisa Zamxaka understood the power of agriculture. The farmer and agricultural economist believes agriculture is the answer in the battle against poverty in Mzansi. He is the founder of Ilitha Farming, a small-scale farming business in the Kei Farm Village of Centane, in the Eastern Cape.
Ilitha Farming is a mixed farming operation with vegetables and livestock, including poultry, cattle, goats and pigs. Xolisa’s vegetables are grown on four hectares of land while his livestock operations are run on communal land in his native village.
Speaking about the inspiration behind Ilitha Farming, Xolisa explains: “I was at home during Covid-19 when the notion for beginning Ilitha Farming came about. We planted vegetables for household [use] then the idea came while I was in the garden to instruct people in farming through online platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, WhatsApp, video calls – for the reason that people were not allowed to gather in small numbers at one place.”
Xolisa also offers training and mentorship, as well as consultation services for new farmers in the Eastern Cape. The company also assists farmers in the province with services such as company registration, co-operative registration, mentorship services and farming business plans.
Learning from the best
Xolisa was born and raised in the Kei Farm Village where he was surrounded by neighbours and family members who loved growing their own food. “As young boys, we were groomed to look after livestock. We were also expected to assist in the planting season with crops such as maize, beans and pumpkins,” said Xolisa. All he learned about growing food was influenced by his late father, Mzimkhulu, a mine worker, and his mother, Nozuko, who were small-scale farmers in their own right.
He matriculated from the Phandulwazi Agricultural High School in Alice and completed his master’s degree in agricultural economics at Fort Hare University in 2015.
Just after he graduated, Xolisa worked for various organisations such as Umtiza Farmers Coop, which sells agricultural goods, Amathole District Municipality (ADM), Agricultural Research Council (ARC), Fort Cox Agricultural College, Cedara Agricultural College and the department of rural development and agrarian reform.
Hearing the plight of his people
As the young man from a village, Xolisa knows the struggle of the people who need a hand-up but can’t find assistance. He believes people are keen to grow their own food and pursue farming but often struggle due to a lack of training opportunities.
“Ilitha farming is a neighbourhood development programme. Its purpose [initially] was simply to farm for profit, but now it has been all about helping people from a disadvantaged background get proper agricultural training.”
Xolisa sells his livestock and produce to Ngumbela Fruit and Vegetables in Butterworth. Eventually, he hopes to expand his enterprise.
“We also get large orders directly from people who run catering businesses.”
He works with two family members, who assist him when he needs extra hands.
Moving toward a sustainable future
His primary goal is to get a bigger farm to enable him to farm both crops and livestock and employ farming graduates. According to Xolisa, people need to grow their own food now for a sustainable future. “I highly recommend young people to enrol in agriculture-related studies. We need more people to participate in the food production industry. Another good thing is there are a lot of career opportunities within agriculture industry which make it an interesting profession.” – foodformzansi.co.za
