‘I left South Africa to become my own boss’

AFTER 13 years of working in South Africa Mr Thamsanqa Nehwati from Bulawayo’s Luveve suburb decided to return home and set his mind on starting a project close to his heart — poultry farming.

It all began with the arduous task of saving every available disposable income to finance a chicken incubation venture that he now runs at his home.The incubator cost him R25 000, an amount he laboured for a full year to raise, and sold his household furniture to transport it to Bulawayo.

With his back permanently turned on a life of more than a decade in the neighbouring country, he bade farewell to family and friends in South Africa and started “SkyView Chickens”, an inspiring venture run in the township of Luveve 5 suburb.

“I have always loved farming from the time I did my secondary education at Inyathi Mission School from the year 2000 to 2003,” he said in an interview.

“After living in South Africa for 13 years, I decided it was time to come back home and try something that is close to my heart, be my own boss.

“I saved money to buy the incubator for the whole of 2018 and sold all my belongings in South Africa to transport it to Bulawayo. I was left with nothing but just a dream to start a chicken incubation business at home,” said Mr Nehwati.

Because the incubator is housed in their family home, he had to hire a builder to break a section of the wall of the house to put it inside and repair the wall again.

It’s backed by a solar system. His clients are established farmers in the southern region of the country and as far as Kwekwe, in the Midlands Province who bring the eggs by long-distance buses.

The incubator is used to hatch chicken, turkey, guinea fowl and duck eggs.

“I had a challenge with load shedding when I started the business but I had to improvise and start saving for a solar system,” said Mr Nehwati.

“You can’t run an egg incubation venture without a back-up system in the event that electricity supply is disrupted.

“The incubator cannot be allowed to be out of electricity supply for more than six hours, otherwise the hatching rate of the eggs will be compromised,” he said.

The youthful entrepreneur charges US$8 for 30 chicken eggs or US$0,30 cents for eggs that are less than a crate. For turkey, guinea fowl and duck eggs, he charges US$10 for a crate or US$0,40 cents for an individual egg.

The incubator can take up to 600 eggs at a time and it takes 21 days for them to hatch.

“We recommend our customers To give us eggs that are between four to five days old for incubation for a good success rate of hatching,” he said.

The entrepreneur is grateful for his understanding neighbours who do not have issues with noise made by guinea fowls, road runners and ducks that he keeps and sells.

“As you can see, we run the project from a small space with neighbours close by but they understand our plight and don’t complain about the noise from the birds,” he said.

The breeding for guinea fowls is between September and April, according to Mr Nehwati, and that’s when he gets more offers from communalfarmers to incubate their eggs.

To fellow youths who are eager to go into farming, Mr Nehwati’s advice is that one has to venture into a project that is close to their hearts.

“If you love animals then go into cattle, goats, chicken and if you love plants then try maize, wheat and the likes. As a farmer stick with your love and be present where your project is based at all times.

“Cellphone farming does not work, you need to be there on the ground at all times,” he added.

Mr Nehwati cited an example of a United Kingdom-based farmer who always brings eggs for incubation but complains that the number of chickens at his farm never increase.

“Workers or relatives will always tell you stories that your chickens are dying for one reason or another,” he said.

His mother Mrs Linda Nehwati said she is proud of her son for ditching a life in SA to become his own boss by venturing into a project that is close to his heart.

“He started with only eight chicks and has grown the project through hard work and perseverance. When he started his small number of chickens used be kept in the toilet as night until he raised enough money to construct a fowl run in our yard,” she said.

The young farmer is appealing for land to grow his venture and grow the number of birds he keeps at his Luveve home.