With Women’s Month in full swing and women empowerment topping the agenda, female
student entrepreneurs at the Durban University of Technology’s Student Women Economic
Empowerment Programme which is an initiative under the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme participated in the ‘CultivateHER SWEEP
Agri Training’.

The session, hosted by the innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, saw
around 30 student female entrepreneurs gather at the Innovation Hub at innobiz DUT where
they were the beneficiaries of agriculture based training and insights from experienced female
entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector.

The session kicked off with an inspiring address from innobiz DUT Centre Manager, Ms.
Nontokozo Ngcobo, who encouraged the student female entrepreneurs to make use of the
opportunities available to them to bring balance to their lives and businesses.
Ms. Ngcobo encouraged the entrepreneurs to be consistent in the work that they put into
growing their businesses, urging that consistency and discipline in executing their work would
yield positive outcomes in the future.

“To those that harbour an interest to start in agriculture, we believe in your potential and I want
to encourage you to start by using what you have. We have examples of female entrepreneurs
who passed through our Centre’s doors who started their agriculture journeys using their
backyard gardens and today have around five hectares of farming land that they use,” Ms.
Ngcobo said. She emphasized that the student women entrepreneurs utilise their time in the incubation
programme wisely and invest their time and efforts in endeavors that were profitable to them as
young female entrepreneurs. “When innobiz was established, it was established for experiences because out there, there are no mentors so it’s a safe space for mentorship for training and by the time you go out there at least you have basics of managing and handling the pressures of being in business,” Ms.
Ngcobo said.

Highlighting the significance of the CultivateHER Sweep Agri Training, Ms. Sindiswa Khuzwayo, the DUT Sweep Chapter Coordinator, explained that she felt it was important that for this Women’s Month, the Chapter went beyond simply celebrating women and instead create a space that actively equips them with tools for empowerment. “That is why I chose the CultivateHER SWEEP Agri Training as our flagship Women’s Month event this year.

Agriculture is one of the sectors with immense opportunities for young women, yet it is also a space where they are underrepresented. “By focusing on agri-entrepreneurship, we wanted to highlight not only the critical role women can play in food security and innovation, but also to provide them with practical skills, exposure and confidence to explore this industry,” Ms. Khuzwayo shared.

She added that the CultivateHER programme was designed to inspire, train and connect young women with mentors and leaders in agriculture so that they walk away not just motivated, but also prepared to take action. “For me, this workshop was about planting seeds of possibility, showing young women that they can shape industries, lead communities and build businesses that create impact,” Ms. Khuzwayo explained.

Ms. Ntobeko Mafu, founder of Madame Clucks A Lot and an innobiz DUT alumni, shared her
inspiring story of resilience in entrepreneurship, particularly in the agriculture space where her
business operates in the broiler production sector.

Ms. Mafu spoke of how from losing m 13 minutes: opportunities don’t find you, you rise up to
meet them. Additionally, she advised the student female entrepreneurs to document their entrepreneurial
journeys through the wise use of their social media as this becomes their business pitch
because everybody who wants to find them can have a look at their social media platforms.
“My biggest corporate client who pays me R80 000 per training that I host for them found me on
social media and they always hire me. Never stop learning and invest in short courses, don’t
doubt the power of your attendance because it will change your life. “My story is about resilience, opportunity and cultivation and my message to you is simple, plant your seed now and remember that what you water grows, so if you water negativity you’ll reap negativity. Your degree is a key, but what it’s you build with that is the real goal,” Ms. Mafu said.

Xola Sibisi, the owner of Ntombikhona Farming, shared that she had initially wanted to be an
accountant balancing books for big accounting firms, however due to Covid-19 she saw an
opportunity in agriculture and was inspired by her grandfather’s lifelong work in agriculture as a
subsistence farmer. Ms. Sibisi shared how her business idea came to being as she idled at home, frustrated by the harsh reality of unemployment, when her grandfather’s spirit pushed her towards working the soil and planting.

“I did this not because I wanted to, not because I loved it, but because I was hungry, broke, and
desperate. When the seeds grew, so did I, because something small that I did for survival
turned into Ntombikhona Farming. “Farming gave me back my dignity because although I was educated and sitting at home, I was still a farmer. Farming gave me purpose because it is really frustrating idling at home with nothing to do, it ensured that I woke up each morning with purpose knowing that I would be
tending to my crops,” Ms. Sibisi said.

Ayavuya Sibisi, the founder of Tropical Paradise Smoothie Bar, explained that her upbring in
Limpopo which has a tropical climate and an abundance of tropical fruits and the agriculture
based lifestyle that most citizens of the province live was what inspired her entrepreneurial
journey.

“My mother was also very health conscious and she produced smoothies, so by the time I got to
high school I was also entrepreneurial selling sweets during break times because I wanted to
understand money. “I finished high school with that mindset, so when I got to university I took that mindset with me and told myself that I can do something specific as long as I put my mind to it and because I had tested those small businesses and acquired those skills I started looking for problems to solve when I got to university,” Ms. Sibisi explained.

She adds that when she got to university, she found that there was a lack of access to nutritious
and healthy food options and upon more research discovered that South Africa was rated
amongst the unhealthiest countries in the world. “Coming from a health conscious family, and taking my background and growing up in a place with a lot of agriculture, I was then able to create an agro processing mobile smoothie bar whereby we are tackling Type 2 diabetes and also tackling the kind of food and vegetable waste that is happening in South Africa within farms,” Ms. Sibisi said.
Moreover, she revealed that she had used a portion of her bursary funds to start the business
which is now also available on online food platforms such as Uber Eats.

“I started with the little money I had, and whereas my friends were buying iPhones with that
money I told myself that I’m in university and I am never ever going to get this opportunity to be
getting monthly (from the bursary), I’m not paying rent and I’m in a big city like Durban so I’d
rather use the money to invest in something,” Ms. Sibisi said