A reader from Limpopo writes

We receive some ten emails a week from people looking for help on one agricultural issue or another. The past week, there was correspondence from someone checking information for agriculture in the provinces, where to buy barley in Gauteng, a request for chemicals. It was when we received two in succession about pigs that we decided to do an article on one of them.

The second request was from a person in a mining company, looking for pig feed additives, asking for a sales consultant to contact her urgently. (Several requests think we are some sort of retailer and we are asked for quotes on animal feed additives, windmills, chemicals etc. These requests are usually passed on to a past advertiser or person who has offered feedback on content).

The request before that is one we decided to follow up, an “inquiry regarding growing an informal pig-keeping operation into an income-generating farm”. The person writing was appealing for help for her father, one Ephraim Boas Malatjie, a “hard working pensioner who keeps over 60 pigs and piglets in his backyard”.

Mmathabo Malatjie continues:

He would like to become a commercial farmer as he currently survives on very little. He previously failed to commercialise this project due to high initial capital costs and high maintenance and feed expenditure ...

There is vast agricultural gap in the village he lives in … He would like to start a piggery and create employment opportunities for other breadwinners like him who struggle to make daily ends meet in the village. He feels he can recruit youngsters and educate them about the benefits of farming and the possibilities in-terms of starting a career as a pig-farmer.

His vision is to dispatch well-fed healthy pigs for slaughter to well-known butchers in the surroundings towns. To achieve this, he however, needs more information on the registration process, skills development training etc. Furthermore, he seeks funding for a construction of proper quality livestock producing pigpen (Concrete floored pigpens with feeding pens and fresh water dispensers).

Mmathabo attached photographs of the backyard piggery which we have displayed here. 

 I forwarded the email on to the South African Pork Producers Organisation (SAPPO) which runs a, by all accounts, competent business development wing. A look at https://www.sapork.co.za/business-development/ will show options like "Guidelines to consider when planning a piggery", "Training DVDs" and details of its training academy, Baynesfield.

I decided to enquire further and lift the lid of anonymity of one more person writing in for assistance. Where did the pigs come from? Why pigs (why not goats or vegetables or something else)?

Mmathabo responded:

Ephraim had been an educator who farmed part-time. He had grown peppers and chilies, which he sold to a local farmer for a profit.

After his water machinery was stolen he was not generating any income. He then bought two piglets with his savings from a man in the village and we called them Candy and Kendris, We spent hours in the pigsty feeding and splashing them with water. Little did we know he would have over 60 pigs in his backyard in 2019.

Mmathabo continued:

The backyard was fenced and a little pigsty with a concrete dam was built for the piglets to have space ... To my father, pigs (although very expensive to maintain) are very good for farming. They teach you a lot about consistency as well as dedication. They grow fast, need time and they have interesting personality traits. 

He then went on early pension and attempted to have a commercial piggery. From his savings he decided to have a borehole so the pigs have freshwater, he also invested in ensuring that they were well-kept by hiring 3 guys who managed their feeding and environment. This did not work out because he had no information about separating breeders from the weaners as well as males and females. It was not long [before] he suddenly had soo many pigs in his yard which were expensive to feed.

Bakeries and shops give him bread, fruit and vegetables. Village functions and family gatherings donate leftovers to feed the pigs.

The pigs are all well-kept and healthy. [Ephraim] has never had issues related to their health and they spend the day running around their yard and people love coming to watch them.

All the people who write in have a story and live real lives. All the people who don’t write in also have a story and live real lives, of course, but the point is that it is fascinating hearing about some of these.

Are there any other people near Mphakane Village, Dzumeri, Giyani in the Limpopo Province who are able to help? Please contact Ephraim on 073 344 9587.

Our aim is to provide orientation points for newcomers. They might be students, researchers, people who want to farm or those who have been farming for years but want to diversify their operations to include something else. Apart from this, there is not much more that we can do. Agribook.Digital is a modest, small, information company. And there are two requests for windmills and another concerning livestock in Mpumalanga that I should respond to now.