Limpopo female farmers hail impact of SPAR Rural Hub model

The Ramahwidi Farming and Projects Cooperative have applauded the SPAR Rural Hub model for elevating their business to now commercial farmers.

Founded in 2014, Ramahwidi Farming is located along the R71 road in Mamahule [Dalmada], Limpopo.

It consists of five female directors and has 10 permanent employees with over 30 temporary ones.

They produce a variety of crops, including spinach, cabbage, beetroot, mustard, green beans, cocktail tomatoes, and baby marrows.

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The business has also grown to become one of the suppliers of quality vegetables to retailers such as SPAR and others through the SPAR Rural Hub model.

The SPAR Rural Hub model is designed to support smallholder farmers by directly linking them to the retail value chain. Currently active in Limpopo, the initiative has created 103 jobs at the farm level and an additional 62 in secondary services.

SPAR Rural Hub provides farmers with vital training in good agricultural practices, utilising the internationally recognised GLOBALG.A.P. certification.

These farmers can now provide commercial volumes of crops at a quality level which complies with SPAR South Africa’s quality and food safety standards.

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“I am commercial because of Spar. If it were just me farming my spinach and cabbage, I think I would still be small-scale,” said managing director of Ramahwidi Farming Sewela Thosago.

“But to be able to hire so many people, it’s because of SPAR. You can’t hire more than 30 people just farming cabbage,” she added.

“People still believe farming is for men. But I still believe women have the capacity to operate in farming. You treated farming like you treat your own child.

“So it’s like that, and also to empower other people to help. As you can see, other women helping their own families give you that satisfaction to see that you are feeding other families.”