tobacco farmer

Image supplied

Lockdown living: Limpopo farmer sells tobacco leaves to locals for snuff

This is a very unusual type of crop framing in the rural villages.

tobacco farmer

Image supplied

This type of farming is usually done by commercial farmers in zoned farming areas, but Limpopo tobacco farmer Nndweleni Mankhili believes that wealth lies in the soil.

But since lockdown, things have changed for Mankhili from Makonde-Tshilulu village outside Thohoyandou in Limpopo. With the fresh soil and plants around him, Mankhili’s snuff business is no longer generating cash because he cannot move from one village to another to deliver his snuff containers.

Tobacco farming in rural villages

Mankhili farms tobacco — a very unusual type of crop in the rural villages. This is the type of farming that is usually done by commercial farmers in zoned farming areas. Though Mankhili does not supply his tobacco to the big and professional markets, he sells the dried tobacco leafs to local individuals who crush them to produce snuff.

A veteran insurance broker, Mankhili says he wakes up at 4:00 every day.

“I have trained myself to wake up very early to work in my field before engaging myself in my daily chores as an insurance broker. I make sure that my tobacco is well cared for because this is the type of crop that needs a lot of daily attention. I make sure that I return to the field at sunset to check if something went wrong during the day,” he said.

Mankhili said he fell in love with crop farming while at primary and high school.

“Although I excelled in Mathematics and Afrikaans, I fell in love with Agricultural Sciences, especially the practical part of it. My happiest moments were when teachers sent us to the school gardens to do practical work. I never thought that the love of agricultural science would one day become the inspiration of my farming career,” he explained.

He said the land on which he is farming today at Makonde-Lufulalunwe is a family plot on which his forefathers worked and produced crops. However, Mankhili admits that there are many challenges in farming but they don’t supersede his interest in the trade.

“Farming is a very challenging but interesting activity and if you are not dedicated, you can easily backslide. Most of my farming profit ends up paying for the costs to take care of the tobacco but it is better than doing nothing at all,” he said.

He encourages other community members to do something that can bring a small amount of cash to their pockets during and after lockdown.

“Many people would argue that there are no jobs. I beg to differ because we can create our own jobs. There are many ways to skin a cat and we can do something that can change our lives for good. I also encourage young people to consider farming because it creates jobs and adds value to the local economy,” added the father of four.

This content has been created as part of our freelancer relief programme. We are supporting journalists and freelance writers impacted by the economic slowdown caused by #lockdownlife.

If you are a freelancer looking to contribute to The South African, read more here.