Leydah Sekgobela was given the tools to grow her small business into a thriving farm thanks to lessons from her mother and significant opportunities from SPAR.
Limpopo, South Africa – Leydah Sekgobela drew inspiration from her mother, who taught her everything she needed to know to grow good strong crops. An industrious woman, Leydah’s mother, taught her to work diligently and build on every success.
It was through these life lessons that Leydah was able to build a robust small-scale farm which allowed her to do great things in her community. She followed in her mother’s footsteps, making a prosperous farm in Limpopo’s Mopani district and was seen for her true potential by the Spar Rural Hub Project.
Leydah was invited to join six other small-scale farmers at the Spar Rural Hub Project and received specialised training, growth plans, and mechanisation. These tools enabled the farmers to take their businesses to the next level.
Not only did she receive helpful training, but Spar also provides a reliable market for their produce, which is first sold to a pack-house facility, and then on to local Spar stores and other available outlets.
Through Spar’s assistance, Leydah was able to graduate from small-scale farming to commercial farming, and today employs 16 people. She works with only women, empowering them to lead their households and support their children and grandchildren.
She says, they work fast, and “they know what they are doing”. By passing on the skills obtained from her mother, along with the new skills she acquired from Spar, Leydah is, in turn, empowering these female farmers to thrive. Spar aims to develop these farmers to the point where they become self-sufficient. It is transformational retailing practices like these that enables Spar to create a chain of empowerment from the ground up.
As part of the #SAINC nation-building initiative, Spar is joining a network of purpose-driven brands to share stories of positive progress in South Africa. Kevin O’Brien, a Risk and Sustainability Executive at Spar, believes that sustainability stretches further than the environment, and that business has the potential to address critical issues in society.
Not only is Spar empowering small-scale farmers, but also its retailers, who own their branches independently thus creating more South African entrepreneurs. These business owners are provided with the opportunity to be part of a big brand like Spar, yet retain their independence as retailers.
Dan Maluleke is one of these inspiring branch owners. He started out running by a family-owned general dealer in Soshanguve. Dan’s potential was noticed, and Spar invested in his business by conducting feasibility studies and providing him with produce.
Today, Dan owns 11 Spar stores and employs over 1000 people from the communities where these stores are located. His businesses are a success because of his pride and passion for serving the communities with the very best service and a charming smile.
Spar’s purpose is to inspire individuals to be more and do more. As an organisation, it does not only provide a well-known brand and support. It also includes those along its chain of empowerment into the Spar family. They believe it’s essential that the products which find their way into consumers’ baskets, get there as a result of the values upheld by Spar. However, it is the hard work and commitment of the small-scale farmers and retailers in this family which forms an enormous part of the reason why they can deliver what they do as an organisation.
These stories are being featured across social media in small snippets, just like the one below, but you will also be able to watch the full-length features live on television. You can catch the full stories below.
24th March – ETV Open News – 18:30
25th April – ETV Open News – 15:30
06th April – SABC 2 – 14:30
28th April – ETV – 12:00
Watch a snippet of the story below:
Good Things Guy has partnered with Regency Global and Official Brand South Africa to bring you stories of how corporates and individuals are helping build our incredible nation.This week we're taking a look at an incredible South African farmer who grew her small farm into a thriving business! It's people and organisations like this that help move us forward!#GoodThings#NationBuilding#SAINC
Posted by Good Things Guy on Thursday, 21 March 2019
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Does Spar encourage organic farming, or are these crops sprayed with pesticides etc? Ideally, this information should be displayed instore. I have recently restricted my SPAR shopping in favour of having farm fresh organic produce delivered to my door weekly – a growing trend, no doubt due to the dramatic increase in dread and chronic diseases. It may be worth looking into that SPAR. Hope to hear back from you.