Imagine pouring everything into your business, only to see it wiped out. That was the devastating reality for Noncendo Khawuleza when she lost her farm, forcing her onto childcare grants. But Noncendo wasn’t ready to give up on her entrepreneurial dreams.
Cape Town, South Africa (04 May 2025) – Losing a business you had given so much of your effort and resources to is enough to dishearten any entrepreneur.
This is something Noncendo Khawuleza relates to, all too well. Except, she didn’t let this obstacle dim her desires to grow and succeed.
After losing her pig farming business due to the recurring cycle of African Swine Fever and having to depend on childcare grants to sustain herself and her family, Noncedo was introduced to the SPCA’s Compassion in Farming programme at iThemba Farms and turned her life around for the better!
By being a participant in the programme, funded by the Welttierschutzgesellschaft e.V. (WTG), and in partnership with Abalimi Bezekhaya’s Gardening Centre in Khayelitsha, Noncedo ventured into vegetable farming.
Although she encountered a stumbling block, due to issues with water access, Nocedo soon discovered a neighbouring initiative: the Burundi Gardening Project, a collective of 34 community members committed to growing produce for income.
It was there that the entrepreneurial spirit was reignited. Noncendo cleverly turned a challenge into an opportunity. Instead of only focusing on her own plot, she started supplying the Burundi gardeners with quality seeds each week, establishing a mini-supply chain complete with valuable agricultural.
Her husband also helps by selling their produce to the local community – yet another opportunity and stream of income!
Noncedo has made the most of every opportunity in her path, having secured a contract to maintain a preschool’s vegetable garden as well as expanding her operations at iThemba Farms. What’s even more amazing? She has also been empowering and feeding others along the way the way too!
“Mrs. Khawuleza, we salute you. You are a true everyday hero, and a reminder that compassion grows the strongest roots,” Cape of Good Hope SPCA prasied.
Sources: Cape of Good Hope SPCA
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