Go-getting farmer thinks up her new 'baby' on child grant
Tunnel farming is used to grow crops even out of season because the structure allows you to control the atmosphere in which the plants grow
19 July 2020 - 00:06
A R350 monthly child-support grant and YouTube videos planted the seeds for farmer Welile Gumede to take an abandoned agricultural tunnel project in northern KwaZulu-Natal and turn it into a blooming, multimillion-tomato business.
In 2015, 29-year-old Gumede returned to her home in Maphumulo, north of Durban, pregnant and unemployed. A former dental assistant, she had struggled to secure in-service training after completing her N6 in chemical engineering at Berea Technical College in Durban. With the birth of her child imminent, she went to live with her family...
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