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EASTERN CAPE—With the numbers of unemployed graduates increasing in SA, Athizintle Nkaqa decided to start her own farming business instead of frustrating herself by looking for a job.

The 25-year-old from Mketengeni location at Holy Cross, Flagstaff, Eastern Cape, is now the owner of Flying Eagle,  a piggery and vegetable farm. Among the vegetables she grows are cabbage, spinach, green pepper and potatoes. She has an advanced diploma in agricultural extension from Central University of Technology (CUT) in Bloemfontein.

She started her business under alert level 5 of the lockdown last year after completing her internship in nursery crop production with the department of rural development and land reform.

“A number of graduates are struggling to get employment. When I saw statistics of unemployment, I didn’t bother to apply for a job. I decided to start my own business because I have skill and land to practice farming. Before joining CUT I had a diploma in animal production from the Fort Cox of Agriculture and Forestry Training Institute,” she said.

Nkaqa said having grown up in a family that practiced farming in their backyard for a living was helping her a lot in her business.

“I started farming from a young age and during my internship I learnt about cash crops, which can return your money in a short period of time, and I got the inspiration to start my own farming business. I managed to save money, which I used to build a structure for pigs. Then I bought five sows and one boar. In December I bought a water pump engine, pipes and tanks,” she said.

In February, she did research in her town and realised that cabbage and spinach were in high demand.

“I had already started planting cabbage, spinach, green pepper and potatoes. After my research I planted 5,500 cabbage heads and 800 seedlings of spinach. I did this even though I didn’t have a proper irrigation system and was still using watering cans,” she said.

Nkaqa said even though her business was doing well, water was still a challenge for her.

“The challenge that I’m facing right now is that of insufficient water because it is winter, and the dam that I was pumping water from has dried out. I have to use a van to fetch water from another dam in another village,” she said.