Gauteng Smallholder Gauteng Smallholder September 2017 | Page 22

SMART SMALLHOLDERS
From page 19
Nosi customers that she and
her team have been responsi-
ble for the production of
honey from beginning to end.
Their own processing
equipment also means that
the team is able to expand its
monthly yield to keep up with
growing demand. But, like
any small agricultural business,
this work is done from home:
Mabela has converted a room
in her house to accommodate
the new equipment and
house the bottling system.
A truly family-run business,
Native Nosi employs Mabela's
sister and cousin. The
company places an emphasis
on the sentiment behind the
business, knowing that it
stems from their patriarch and
his father before him. Mabela
says she hopes one day her
children will be inspired by
her work and take over the
business and keep the family
legacy intact.
Mabela notes that there is a
general lack of knowledge and
understanding around bees
and honey production in
South Africa. For example,
commercial retailers do not
understand the risks involved
with organic bee farming and
thus are not accommodating
when production is slowed by
drought (as was the case last
year).
As a small start-up, she had
very little by way of terms of
reference for the price of
organic, raw honey, and she
relied on the contacts made
through beekeepers' associa-
20
www.sasmallholder.co.za
tions to understand the
market to avoid exploitation
by large commercial retailers.
In addition, hives are at risk
of fire damage and vandal-
ism, and the bees are
threatened by the indiscrimi-
nate use of chemical pesti-
cides. To combat these
challenges, Mabela under-
takes regular hive inspections.
Another challenge comes
from a lack of funding for
beekeepers in times of crisis.
While commercial crop and
livestock farmers received
assistance during last year's
drought for example,
beekeepers were not assisted
and Mabela lost a number of
swarms to the drought.
Mabela says a big complaint
from beekeepers is the lack of
understanding surrounding
their industry by government.
She says it is helpful here to
have large beekeepers'
associations that will fight on
behalf of beekeepers, but
there is still a need for more
education around the
importance of bees.
One of Mabela's biggest
challenges has been skills ~
both beekeeping and
business skills. Although her
father has been able to pass
on what he knows, Mabela is
still learning about her bees
and honey production. She
has attended courses run by
the SA Bee Industry
Organisation (Sabio) (she was
the first black woman to
attend a Sabio course) and
has a number of mentors in
Continued on page 21