According to the cartoon, spinach makes Popeye strong. Maybe in South Africa, Swiss chard makes you even stronger? This certainly seems to be the case for 27-year-old Ncumisa Mkabile, a young entrepreneur from Khayelitsha in Cape Town. Her small farming business is growing from strength to strength – providing her family with an income while supplying the community with nutritious, freshly grown food!
Swiss chard is like spinach – only better!
For many South Africans, spinach forms a staple part of a healthy diet, being high in vitamin A, C and K, magnesium, iron and manganese. Swiss chard is very similar to spinach, offering the same health benefits, but is easier to grow.
This is why Ncumisa, an avid gardener, decided to cultivate and sell Swiss chard. She cleared a patch of land in Khayelitsha, planted her seeds, nurtured her plants, and come harvest time began to reap the rewards. Farming is hard work and requires much patience and dedication, but the satisfaction of seeing, tasting and selling the fruits of your labour is totally worth it!
This female entrepreneur farmer is feeding her community!
Ncumisa’s story is beautiful and inspiring for so many reasons. Her business is innovative and shows that even small ideas can have a big impact. She saw an opportunity to earn an income during one of the most difficult economic times in South Africa, while also giving her community food security in the form of affordable, organically grown spinach packed full of nutrients. Plus, as a female farmer, she is thriving in a business sector generally dominated by men.
Now that really gives new meaning to the phrase “Girl Power”!
