The Azowel Project, a Camperdown farm that was impacted by the unrest in 2021 and the severe hailstorm in 2022, was visited by KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development Super Zuma on Tuesday, April 23.
The project is a 100% female-owned crop farm that uses hydroponic tunnels to grow and distribute 20,000 metric tonnes of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers annually to different markets.
Furthermore, funding for the initiative comes from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development through the Agribusiness Development Agency (ADA).
Currently, the project has 21 hydroponic tunnels with each tunnel housing a maximum capacity of 900 plants. Of these 21 tunnels, 10 are operating at full capacity.
The Department said it has provided the farm with 2,400 tomato seedlings and 4,500 peppers to increase production.
In April 2022, the province was hit hard by flooding, and Azowel was not exempt. In 2022, the company was forced to move its operations from KwaDukuza to Camperdown after losing all of its tunnels and produce.
The department said the province’s agricultural industry is still recovering from the ramifications of the storm damages.
This farmer is still facing challenges of ongoing inclement weather conditions, however, she remains poised in running a sustainable farming enterprise. Such resilience and tenacity from a young and upcoming female farmer should be commended.
The owner of Azowel, Welile Gumede, stated that the project was placed in unfavourable financial constrains due to the initial floods in 2022, as they were still recovering from the effects of the devastating unrest that occurred in July 2021, which resulted in 10 of the farm’s employees losing their jobs.
She said that even though the project had recovered to the point where it could construct 20 tunnels at full capacity, all of their hard work was destroyed by the hailstorm that struck in 2023. Due to the total destruction of the tomatoes, they were unable to begin producing cucumbers, which was a significant setback.
While there has been a lot of progress with the project at their current location, they still want to build a packhouse to increase production, which will help with waste management on the farm. Along with mentioning the necessity of an irrigation system, Gumede expressed her gratitude to the government for the aid they have already received.
MEC Zuma promised that the Department would support Azowel Project to the fullest extent possible and would keep working with them until they were completely integrated into commercial farming.
Source: KZN Development Agency
