When she was bitten by the hydroponic farm bug, Zandile Kumalo’s dreams turned green and she has been farming since. Her vision is to provide local businesses with the opportunity to take advantage of fresh produce in their respective area.
Kumalo is the Director of HyHarvest based in VUT, Science and Technology Park, Sebokeng. She is also the co-founder and CEO of Neighbour Roots where she formed a partnership with Flanagan and Gerard to build the second hydroponic farm on the rooftop of Morningside Shopping Centre, in Sandton.
The two farms specialise in leafy greens like lettuce, herbs and baby spinach.
She supplies her produce to local businesses in Sebokeng. In Morningside, her rooftop farm supplies restaurants and businesses in the shopping centre and its surrounding areas.
“We make sure that local restaurants and businesses like fruit and vegetable stores have a farm that provides them with produce where they can buy their stock conveniently,” she said
She told Vutivi News she personally ran the Morningside Shopping Centre operation with 1 full-time employee and 5 part-time employees. In Sebokeng, she hired one full-time employee and 10 part-time employees who planted and harvested produce. Kumalo said her love for farming started after she moved from Soweto to the Midvaal in high school.
“I used to farm on a 2000 square meter backyard, while i was studying Analytical Chemistry at VUT,” Kumalo said. She volunteered at various farms to learn the ins and outs of operating small scale farms.
“I started thinking about what to do to get the youth more involved in farming… I encountered hydroponic farming while doing research on this topic,” Kumalo said. “I saw this as a great introduction for the youth, and the opportunity to address common stereotypes about farming in South Africa.”
Kumalo said that before she became a hydroponic farmer, she was a consultant on the topic of Hydroponics and Agri-Tech.
Kumalo told Vutivi News one of her greatest concerns was the rolling power cuts. “The load-shedding in Sebokeng was so terrible that our crop production was heavily affected,” she said.
The farmer said she decided to apply for funding for solar panels to ensure a constant energy supply.
“This helped our business tremendously as it had the effect of better-quality produce and an improvement in our production,” Kumalo said.
As a hands-on farmer, Kumalo enjoys spending time at both farms as well as educating students at various schools. Kumalo values professionalism, giving back to the community and the experience of working with nature through learning and teaching others about the Agri-tech industry.
