Business

Octavia Avesca Spandiel spoke to Adele Cutten, founder of Adele’s Mohair, to explore how a small spinning experiment grew into a thriving rural craft enterprise rooted in South Africa’s rich mohair heritage.

Petri Swart never planned on pursuing a job in agriculture. Yet, his hands-on approach, technical focus, and willingness to challenge conventional raisin production systems has earned him recognition as SA Raisins’ 2025 Young Farmer of the Year.

Village business units registered as commercial agricultural ventures are transforming Zimbabwe’s rural landscape, long associated with subsistence farming.

A platform, PropelMapper, is transforming how agricultural consultants, sales agents and researchers capture and use field data, producing insights that can be shared across teams. Tech entrepreneur Reghardt Pretorius, co-founder of PropelMapper, spoke to Glenneis Kriel about the solution.

Bezalel Wine and Brandy Estate has evolved from a bulk grape supplier to a producer of small-batch, high-quality wines, brandies, and infusions. Martiens Bezuidenhout spoke to Glenneis Kriel about his family’s journey.

A group of Kenyan smallholder women farmers are transforming the country’s high-value coffee sector by pooling their resources.

The National School Nutrition Programme feeds more than nine million school children every day and remains one of South Africa’s most meaningful interventions for supporting learning and reducing hunger. But with strategic partnerships, the programme could do far more, strengthening childhood nutrition while helping to drive transformation across the agriculture sector.

Vanessa Collocott runs a free-range Pekin duck enterprise in Curry’s Post, KwaZulu-Natal. She explains that with a seven-week production cycle, disciplined management, and secure restaurant markets, duck farming provides steady cash flow and a viable diversification option for small-scale farmers.

Managing thousands of bee colonies as a pollination service provider is a complex, logistical feat. Added to the challenge is keeping the swarms fed amid dwindling natural resources and crops that offer little nutrition. Jaco Wolfaardt, commercial beekeeper and founder of Ubusi Beekeeping, spoke to Henning Naudé about keeping the bees and business abuzz.

The success of a farming operation in Botswana is largely due to the accessibilty of equipment and technical backup from reliable service providers, like Agrico.

A day in the life of rural veterinarian Dr Suenette Kotze reveals how South Africa’s food chain is supported by a small group of overworked professionals who balance animal welfare, farmer support, and personal sacrifice across vast farming landscapes.

For the past two decades, the Anna Foundation has been transforming the lives of rural children and their communities, growing from a single after-school centre into a network of programmes across the Western Cape.

In a time when youth entrepreneurship in South Africa continues to lag, small-scale farmer Siphindile Hlengwa, founder of Ndlovukazi Agricultural Multipurpose, has shown that structured business support can shift agricultural enterprises from simply surviving to becoming sustainable and even award-winning.

Beyond teaching agricultural skills to their own children, Zimbabwean farmers Vimbai Ruvengo and her husband, Mussolini Ganyo, have turned their property, Panganayi Farm on the Hwedza-Marondera boundary, into a haven for children eager to learn about farming.

The South African agriculture sector faces growing pressure to ensure food security, sustainable farming, and innovative livestock production, requiring a skilled workforce with theoretical knowledge and practical experience.

Mkhululi Tjibenda and 49 other residents of Entumbane, a suburb of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, are engaged in urban farming on an approximately 1ha garden allocated to them by the local city council.

In food-insecure communities across South Africa, Shoprite and its partners are establishing food gardens that help people grow their own food and build long-term self-reliance.

While the agriculture sector faced significant headwinds in 2025, the year has ended on a strong note. Dawie Maree, head of agriculture information and marketing at FNB, talks about navigating challenges and opportunities in 2026.

Johan van der Nest is renowned in auction circles and was the first freelance stud-stock auctioneer to begin operating in South Africa. He spoke to Sabrina Dean about a career built on knowledge, experience, people skills and just a touch of showmanship.

At Schenkfontein in the Western Cape’s Swartland, the Hanekom approach to winemaking reflects a deeply held belief in family values.