Nkosinathi Makamela

Youth in Agriculture

Nominee's Province:
Eastern Cape

Age:
22

Project Name/Description:
Lolo Mixed Farming

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Product-service/Lolo-mixed-farming-104183001289522/

Makamela’s road to being a successful small scale farmer at only 22 years was made possible by National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NASFAS). In 2019, when he was only 20, his mother, Nobangile Makamela, the pillar of the family, passed away after suffering severe headaches, leaving seven kids and a husband, Matikiti Makamela. At the time the young Makamela, from Komkhulu, eMunye village, Idutywa, Eastern Cape, was doing the first year of the BSc Agriculture: Animal Production Science degree at Fort Hare University, Alice, Eastern Cape. His parents were subsistence farmers and worked together. After his mom’s passing, his dad, now in his early 60s, battled with running the 7ha farm and the young man asked if he could take over and he agreed. Makamela registered Lolo Mixed Farming in 2020 and during Covid-19 lockdown used his R1 500 NASFAS allowance to farm pigs, poultry, and crops (maize, pumpkin, butternut, spinach, potatoes, and cabbage). He has added goats and sheep to his offering. He says they use old-school farming methods and are in dire need of modern tools. “We need funding and we make do with a tractor, an incubator and a borehole as there’s water shortage in the area,” he says. “If it were not for NASFAS, my farm would not have taken off.” Last year, Makamela won the National Youth Development (NYDA) Trailblazer Award and the Eastern Cape Youth Award in the farming category. Makamela, now in his final and fourth year at university, is determined to become a commercial farmer someday.