A Limpopo woman, who used her retirement savings to start a farming business, has encouraged other women to go after their dreams.

Forty-four-year-old Kuhlula Ndhima from Tarentaalrand, near Tzaneen, quit her job as a lawyer six years ago to become a farmer.

President Cyril Ramaphosa specifically mentioned her in his keynote address on Women’s Day at Nkowankowa stadium near Tzaneen, last week. Ndhima has integrated poultry production with vegetable and mango farming.

“I bought the farm in 2019 and started farming in 2020 during COVID-19 period. The intention was never to farm but I fell in love with farming and I’ve been farming since. The funds that I used in this farm was from my retirement. I decided to retire as a lawyer at the age of 40 and I used my savings to start farming. It is expensive and I am self-funded; I used everything that I had to start farming,” she says.

These employees on Ndhima’s farm say their lives have been transformed.

“Working here at the farm has opened my eyes and mind about farming. I now know my strengths and weaknesses as well as to seek advice from my colleague on how to do certain activities here at the farm. I used to work on the fields. We started with one chicken coop and today we have grown. This has taught me that there’s nothing we cannot do as a team,” says the employee.