Farmer’s Weekly – 23 August 2019

LIVESTOCK Broiler Production

startinga businessandneedsto

buildupa healthycashflow.

Thereis alsoa goodmarketfor

chickeninSouthAfrica,asit is

themainsourceofanimalprotein

forthoseinpoorercommunities.

Hestartedoutbybuyinglayers

andbroilers,whichhesoldatthe

sideofa mainroadinSoweto.

“Iwassoimpressedwiththe

profitsI couldmakeselling

between 50 and 100 chickens

a day, that I decided I had to

expand. In 2009, I started doing

market research on how I could

grow and establish a formal

business. I found out about

Buhle Academy, and registered

B

eforeventuringinto

farming,BhefikaMatshenja

ofInhlakaniphoProjects

andFarms,nearSoweto,worked

asa carpenter.However,

whenhewasretrenched,he

decidedit mightbetimeto

considera careerinfarming.

“Iwasreluctanttofarmat

first,becauseI nevergottosee

thegloryinfarmingwhenI was

growingup.Myparents,who

werefarmers,neversucceededin

becomingcommercialfarmers.

“Theyfarmedvegetables

andmaizeona pieceofland

inLufherenginDoornkop,

southwestofJohannesburg.

“Theyleasedthelandfrom

theCityofJohannesburgfrom

2001 to2005,butduetolackof

supporttheycouldn’tgrowtheir

farmingoperation,”hesays.

Matshenjadecidedtoforge

aheadregardless,andbeganhis

farmingjourneyin2006,when

hebecamea middlemanfor

buyingandsellingchickens.This

allowedhimtobuildhismarket,

whichservedhimwellwhenhe

decidedtoexpandhisbusiness.

Poultrywashisfirstchoice,

saysthe34-year-oldMatshenja,

becauseit is a productthatoffers

relativelyquickturnover.Thisis

a bonusforsomeonewhois just

BhefikaMatshenjaof InhlakaniphoProjectsandFarms,winnerof theStarof BuhleAward

for2019,saysthatbyimplementingsound managementprinciples,suchas reinvestingprofits,

hehasbeenableto seehisbusinessgrow.SiyandaSishubareports.

How award-winning broiler

producer stayed the course

ABOVE:

The chickens

are sold from

35 days old,

whentheyreacha

liveweightof2kg.

Photos:siyanda

sishuba

32 farmer’sweekly 23 August 2019