Social Innovation Award winner generates R12 million sales for rural cattle farmers, as shared farming project connects rural farmers with urban markets

“For rural farmers, this brings the market to their doorstep. There are no transport fees or the uncertainties of auctions, which are often tipped against the farmer” explains Shezi. The project has also created jobs for the herdsmen who work on these farms.

The farmers that have been part of the project have also gone on to expand their income bases. “Some have bought tractors. Others have diversified their farms into other areas of produce such as short term crops, so that they can have cashflow throughout the course of the year. The money flowing from this project is enabling these farmers to educate their children and improve their standard of living” adds Shezi.

Attempting to assess the impact of the project to date, “I estimate approximately R 12 million has already been channelled to rural farmers, from whom we have bought cattle so far. This has benefitted almost 200 farmers and 42 partner farms” he added. “Our next venture will be to expand this scheme beyond retail chains to direct home delivery for people who want premium healthy beef” concluded Shezi.

It seems the sky is the limit for this innovative entrepreneur, who benefited from the funding made available by the SAB Foundation. The SAB Foundation was a beneficiary of the ten year long SAB Zenzele share scheme, the biggest B-BBEE FMCG scheme in South Africa’s history. SAB Zenzele wound down in April 2020, paying out approximately R 8,5 billion, having generated almost R 14 billion wealth and ownership opportunities in the country.

King Lestie III took part in the walk with his wife. People from South Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique and Botswana took part in the Moshoeshoe walk. Nametsegang Letsididi from Botswana said they are supporting Lesotho’s economy and small businesses and on a learning experience.

Letsididi said, “The walk was very informative. We learnt that it used to be tough for Moshoeshoe and his people in those days. We saw nice views in terms of landscape and breath-taking scenery.”

He stated that they leant the reason behind the names of some places in Lesotho. The guides were explaining the events that took place at a particular time and the reason why some places were given particular names.

People were clad in the traditional Sotho attire with a blanket and carrying sticks and singing. Guided by the army they went through mountains, valleys, villages and bushes with some villagers ululating as the group passed. The yearly event started 15 years with an attendance of 40 and today 750, said Maletlane.

The walk ended in Thaba Bosiu where Moshoeshoe defeated the invaders by rolling stones from the mountain top. Thaba Bosiu used to be his capital city and he defeated some European invaders from there.