Her love for agriculture and interest in producing food for her late husband and seven children inspired Nowandile Mbana from Mafini village, outside Libode in the Eastern Cape, to start a sheep farming enterprise.
For Mbana, this was an opportunity to make money by selling her Hammels sheep to local buyers for slaughtering and to sell wool.
Mbana, 60, was one of the sheep farmers from OR Tambo District Municipality who received 144 Dohne Merino rams from the Eastern Cape Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) MEC, Nonkqubela Pieters, during a handing over ceremony held at Hlanganani shearing shed in Mafini.
The handover of the rams is part of the department’s ongoing programmes to commercialise agriculture in the province, with a special focus on farmers in communal land, smallholding farms and farmers who received farms through government’s land reform programmes and other previously disadvantaged farmers.
The department hands over Dohne Merino rams with superior genetics to farmers who already have sheep so that the rams improve the genetics of their animals, the quality of their wool and meat.
Mbana, who has 14 sheep in her kraal, said her flock is full of nondescript rams and ewes, which limits the quality of her wool clip, and reduces the amount of money she gets from wool sales.
She said the Dohne Merino ram she received from the department will improve the genetics of her flock from nondescript to a better quality than she had before.
“I am excited because it feels like God has Blessed me. I say so because acquiring this ram has been one of my desires because my flock was nondescript.
“I expect the ram to mate with my ewes to produce a flock of lambs with superior genetics that will help expand my farming enterprise and increase my profit margins,” said an elated Mbana.
Papama Madyibi from Vidgiesville, outside Mthatha, who also received rams, said as emerging farmers, getting the rams will bring a huge difference to their farming businesses because they have nondescript sheep.
“By mating them with these rams, we will see the difference. Some local farmers had these rams and we see the quality of their lambs and we are confident that the rams we are getting from DRDAR will make a difference.”
Madyibi, who is hoping to get better income from wool sales, said to sustain effective mating for rams, they will focus on grass and grain feeding, providing medicines and keep rams separate from ewes, until the mating season.
Pieters, who also handed over eight shearing sheds to local wool growers, said the department delivered the 144 Dohne Merino rams in order to improve the quality and volume of the farmers’ wool clip.
Pieters said the Eastern Cape government is investing in the construction of shearing sheds to take woolgrowers out of the mud huts they use for shearing.
The MEC said the department is investing in farmers in rural areas so that they compete with commercial farmers.
“Foreign countries need meat because they don’t have livestock and OR Tambo is one region that has the highest livestock population in the province. We want to improve the breed of their animals so that it is suitable for the markets, and they can also export it to other countries and earn money.
“We know that in South Africa, it is only the East London harbour that has capability to load live animals on a ship for export markets. Government wants to ensure that when livestock is sold, farmers from OR Tambo… also benefit from exporting their animals and be paid in dollars so that they can make meaningful profit,” said Pieters.
The department’s veterinary services also trained farmers to take care of their sheep, feed them and prevent disease. The department strongly urged members of the public and farmers not to eat animals killed by diseases.