Xolelwa Koncoshe from Isithembiso

Tell us a little about yourself!

I was born in Mdantsane township and spent my formative years in Mtlabathi Location in the Eastern Cape. I lived with my grandparents who were farmers in their own right, they practiced mixed farming. The result was that, growing up, 80% of the food was produced with our homestead. I currently reside in Ncera Village 6, outside East London. I’ve been advancing my Agroecological farming skills for the past five years.

How did you start doing what you are doing now? 

In 2019 I was invited to attend a rural school which was convened by a number of NGOs & CBOs where we looked into how we can transform rural livelihoods through different initiatives.

During that week I met Agroecology farmers who shared their farming practices but the turning point when we visited one of the local Agroecology farmers. It was very hot— 33 degrees Celsius— but I was very impressed how his plants looked so healthy and resilient to the heat. I learnt a lot from those farmers and I took all that information home and started to apply it straight away. Then covid 19 hit our shores and boom the lockdown, and that is when I started my fulltime journey as an Agroecology farmer. 

The land I farm on is communal land because I live in a village which is under the traditional authority. If you want access to farming land the first step is to approach the village committee then they convene a community meeting then the request will be tabled to the entire community. Once the community consents, the village committee will put the minutes together and add the attendance register. Then we write a letter to the chief enclosing the minutes & the attendance register. This is the procedure I had to follow to get access to farming land. I started out farming in my homestead garden. The land we are working on now was given to us in 2020 but it took us 3 years to develop it because we didn't have funds. We have been assisted by different organizations and businesses. Being in a rural community we have a lot of organic material such manure, which we use a lot. Not having working capital to pay workers is very difficult. I sell locally and outside of our area. Price is always an issue because as organic farmers we are being compared to commercial farmers.

What are you most proud of in this process? 

I am most proud that I’ve been able to motivate other farmers to transition into environmentally friendly farming activities and abandon dangerous farming poisons.

What is the most helpful piece of advice you received when you were just starting out? 

Start small and scale up!

What advice would you like to give to others who are younger/earlier on their journey? 

Have resilience to bounce back from disappointments. Sometimes you get discouragement where you don’t expect it, e.g. from your family as well as officials. Patience is needed, especially when you are impacted by adverse weather which can be very unpredictable due to climate change.

Where do you see growing going in South Africa? 

Growing has a very bright future because even those who took it for granted at some point in their lives now, they appreciate the value of growing their own vegetables due to exorbitant prices of food devoid of nutrients.