South Africa: He Trained As a Nurse but His Heart Was in the Soil
[Scrolla] Ngcebo Zungu, 30, trained and qualified as a nurse before leaving the profession to start a farm with just R1,500. His farm now includes chickens, quails, rabbits, vegetables and herbs, but his income swings from R20,000 to R500 a month.
Ngcebo Zungu, a 30-year-old man from Soweto, left his nursing career behind and returned to his hometown of Soweto to pursue his passion for farming. Growing up in KwaZulu-Natal, Zungu used to work with his grandmother planting vegetables using seeds saved from previous harvests. After high school, he studied nursing instead of farming due to limited options in his chosen field.
However, when he decided to return to farming, he started small with just R1,500 and around 2,000 cabbages. His father, Sicelo Zungu, assisted him in clearing the land, which was filled with stones and debris. Today, Zungu's mixed farm, Embheka Mix Farming, has expanded beyond cabbages and now includes livestock, such as 75 layer chickens, 120 quails, 25 rabbits, and eight exotic chickens.
He also grows a variety of vegetables and herbs, which he sells to community members, restaurants, and catering businesses. While farming has not provided a stable income, Zungu makes around R20,000 in a good month, but it can drop to as little as R500 in a bad month. Despite the challenges, Zungu remains committed to his farm and donates vegetables to underprivileged children at local schools.
Written by urgent.news from AllAfrica's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
