South Africa: Meet the woman behind Sandton’s rooftop farm
Her stunning hydroponic rooftop farm, 29-year-old Zandile Kumalo is on a serious mission to make the concrete jungle of Gauteng green.
By Duncan Masiwa
Food For Mzansi
July 5, 2021
Excerpt:
It all started when she decided to utilise her family’s 2000 square meter backyard space in Henley on Klip to grow food. At the time, Kumalo says she was on mission to create awareness of zero hunger in her community.
“No one in my family ever took an interest in agriculture, so I’m the first. I was always just that child that loved nature. My mom would yell at me for getting clothes dirty after ‘messing up’ her garden,” Kumalo recalls with laughter.
Initially, she thought that her love for growing food would not go any further, but it eventually developed into more than just a side hustle.
While studying towards a diploma in analytical chemistry at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), Kumalo wanted to immerse herself even further into the agricultural space.
“I thought, how can I use my chemistry education in a different sector such as agriculture. It was important for me to spend a great deal of my time in the conventional farming space, understanding how to run a successful farm and how to deal with nature’s unpredictability,” Kumalo says.
With a leap of faith Kumalo founded her first hydroponic farm in 2017 in partnership with VUT. The farm called HyHarvest is situated at the VUT, Science and Technology Park, Sebokeng.
