 If you had a chance to change one thing in South Africa, what would that be? The land. The land. The land. What will you change about the land? The land. People must own the land. People must be able to plant on the land. People must... I'm not saying everybody is a farmer, but for those that have inclinations, for those that have the passion, for those that don't have the means to own the land, but have the passion to farm. I'm saying people should be given the opportunity to farm. People should be given the opportunity to farm. Yes. But farms or the land does not belong to our people. How do they farm on it? My brother. Yes sir. It's nice meeting you. Likewise. You are the first South African farmer that I'm interviewing. Thank you so much. You're welcome. So please, since he's the first one, I want you guys to do this for me. Like the video, it's very important for me to share the video because I want his story to inspire many South Africans. My brother, the thing that I read on the internet is that it's so hard for Black South Africans to own land in South Africa. Yes. Is that true? It is. Because look, if you are to own hundreds of hectares for you to be productive and economical, it will, for you as a worker first, because remember most Black come from being a laborer. So it may take you 400 years. But there are programs in South Africa designed to help people to start. Some of those programs are favorable. Some of them, for a normal South Africans, they won't even be part of. So as much as the government tries, it's still hard as a South African, Black South African at that, to actually own a piece of real estate in South Africa. Real estate? Yeah, as in land. My name is Ntlantla. I'm based here in Springs, which is just on the east of Johannesburg. This is where I am now doing farming, which is my first passion actually. And I guess this is what we need from the youth. People to identify their talent when they are young, when they have energy, not to find farming when you are retiring, because that seems to be an operative weight for most people when they retire. So it means that for Black people to own a piece of land, they need to retire first and actually have a lump sum of money to then buy the land. By that time, they don't have the energy, they don't have the know-how to actually run. But if they started young, like for instance, my kids will be in a better position if they pursue farming or farming related careers. So what is important is for us as Black people to learn and make sure that we are able to think on a higher level and change the narrative and actually make sure that future generations are secured of their future. This is how it works. The way I look at it is because people cannot bite the soil, they have to find a mechanism to get the energy from the earth with all the trace elements that are in the soil transferred via the conduit of a plant that we eat to get that energy. So when you know that your plants have been fed right, no pesticide, no illegal fertilizers, you know that you eat from the goodness of the earth, which is the earth that has been provided by God. So that's what future farming holds for people in the world. We know people cut corners. As they cut corners, there are diseases, there are issues that crops up. So we need to get back to reality whereby we actually farm from the basics. So which means that you are doing an organic farming then? It is organic. There is nothing that we take out of the ordinary. We use organic fertilizer, chicken fertilizer. We don't use pesticides. As you saw there, there are herbs that we've planted. So those herbs help repel pests for instance. And really from that perspective, we never have to use any insecticides to attend to any pest. Growing up in South Africa, knowing that farming was not a thing for black people, what really inspired you to say that you know what I want to be a farmer? My grandfather used to take me to his work and he was working for a white man. He was Jacob of all trade basically because where he was it was in a beach, it was a beach setting like it's a house next to a beach. So this beach house was owned by a white farmer in a place called Hawik and that's where they will spend their holidays. So my grandfather used to take care of that so he would cook, he would wash, he would do everything in that house. So what inspired me was to see the guy bringing meat in big containers and put it in the fridge and you tell you it's from his farm. Then I said mine. But I've never seen a black farmer as in like, but this guy is doing it. So that story inspired me to say I would one day wish that my children, if they want to have a holiday for instance, they just come and book my house in the beach because they are working hard wherever they're working. They may be working and staying in the United States but they know they've got a beach house in a certain area. Which year did you start your farm? Like I mean the dream that you had, which year did you actually make it into a reality? Look, I have been farming for a longest time. It's just that my farming has been not termed farming. You know like farming, when a black peasant farm, it's normally like peasant farming, it's more like subsistence farming. So I would say I've been doing subsistence farming in my youth days. I used to enjoy planting cabbages, planting carrots for the local spasers and that's why I used to take my produce too. In actual fact, when I do it now, it seems like the same thing again because that's what I'm basically doing at a much more bigger scale. Of course, the aspiration is to do it on a 200 hectares, 500 hectares, a thousand hectares to make sure that we feed the nation. How many hectares are you doing right now? Currently I own a 3.8 hectares. It is a good start but it's not good enough to attend issues at scale. So I'm hoping one day I will get an opportunity to actually farm at that scale. I want to know, was it difficult acquiring this land? At that time, it wasn't difficult because I had the capital. So smaller lands years back were quite affordable. Right now, these lands are more expensive. Just a normal piece of land, you wouldn't get it at the price that I bought it from those years. I feel like you're not just growing crops, you're also wearing like animals. This is so beautiful. A farm of crops is not complete without the animals because you have to employ the whole ecology of farming. You must farm holistically. For instance, with the ducks, I know that when I'm finished with my harvesting, I can put the ducks, they can actually eat everything and it becomes less work for me to remove all the weeds, all the stuff and it's actually good for them because they take that energy and put it into them and then we eat that meat, premium meat at that. What kind of crops are you growing in here? We've got onions because we plant per season. This is the winter season, so we have onions right now that we are putting down, that we have put down already. But normally our main crop is paprika in summer, that what sustains our operations. And we've recently added aubergines or eggplant. Eggplant is good because it's got a number of uses, including for vegetarian people. In later years, we'd like to see how we can convert the eggplant into flour, flour that you use on your normal cooking. Because from the eggplant, when it's dried and processed, you can actually make nice cakes, nice breads that are gluten-free. So for people who've got gluten issues, when they eat this type of flour, they will be able to eat it with no side effects. The kind of farming that my mom and dad used to do, in terms of irrigation, they depend on the rain. Are you also dependent on the rain? No, not at all. Not at all? Yes, we basically depend on our borehole system. We get water from the aquifers down below, and this area is well endowed with water. Water is not a problem at all, which is one of the blessings we have. Because as you can see, this whole area becomes water-locked. It just becomes water. But basically, water here is not an issue at all. So what has been the issue is to actually move water from the borehole into the plant. It requires a lot of resources. It requires a lot of system. Because when you pump and irrigate, you need a certain pressure to effectively be able to spread the water into areas that you need for the plants. In the past, I've been using drip line irrigations. It was good, but it became a problem for me. Because my guys, you find that it means a lot of work for them. So I've now employed the jet sprinklers, which are much better. What's good with drip line irrigation is that it applies the water onto the actual plant. But you have to monitor it so that it's not locked. And we used gravity as pressure, which was quite good. So with the new system we are using, it needs pressure. It needs electricity. And electricity is a problem in our area. Because if I were to put, for instance, a solar pumping station, they'll steal the panels. They'll steal it. Yes, this is the power line. You see that space, that square there? Yeah. That used to be my transformer that I bought for more than 40,000 Rens. Don't tell me it has been stolen. It was stolen. It was stolen. It was stolen. But it was stolen twice. It was stolen twice. I first put it in 2007. It was stolen. There was cables going up all the way to my farm. They cut all those things down. The second time around of the transformer was my neighbor when he came. He didn't know of the area and we had not talked. So she came and put a second transformer. It was stolen. I've told myself that this area, for any form of energy, it will have to be a new invention in which I'm able to get in energy. Solar is a good one, but I'm looking at wind at the moment, probably for converting into electricity. That's the windmill. This is the windmill that we've got. It actually helps, especially in summer, in winter, when there's no water. It pumps the water up into the tanks and from the tanks, we then irrigate all over. This is where my farm begins. Oh wow. Yes. And the name of the farm is called Isildege Farm. That's your name? No, Isildege is a Zulu name for a nest, a bait's nest. We've started with cabbage this year as a winter crop. And it looks so beautiful. Yes. This is how it looks from this angle. So after farming, what do you take the harvest? We take it to the market. To the market? Yes. It's very demanding. The Johannesburg market has a great demand because it supplies the whole southern African region. So there's ever a great demand for things like cabbage, spinach and so on. It creates us for a wider audience. Yes. So this is the test field that we had this year. It's a paprika which is a different version or different variety from the normal paprika that we grow for the market. So this type of paprika is the one that is used for the spice, for the spice paprika. So it has to be dried and then after drying it's grinded into powder to the normal paprika spice that you know from the that you cook with. I'm hearing paprika for the first time because when I'm coming from home you say it's pepper. It looks so good. Can I touch them? Yes. I love being in farms. I'm a big fan of it. It's like you've already harvested them. Yes, we've harvested some and this crop has been left. We're just going to harvest because we are coming to winter now. Okay. So in winter paprika doesn't do well. So these ones we're just waiting for it to just get that extra red and then we dry it. So we dry it up. Yes. So in the following year this coming summer in South Africa we'll be planting almost this whole field. How does it feel anytime you see your crops growing like that? You know sometimes they say you get crazy because sometimes I come at night and I sort of walk around and appreciate the beauty and everything. So I believe that when you are working like this you become one with nature and to see them grow like this it actually fulfills your soul in a way. It's like you're growing more vegetables there? Yes, more vegetables, more uncommon vegetables that all produce. What do you mean by uncommon vegetables? Vegetables that normally locals do not eat. I premium at my farm because theft and stealing is the order of things around this area. So I've always asked myself what can I do to eliminate the theft issue and one of the strategies that works for me currently is to actually plant stuff that the locals don't normally eat and I can assure you it is working. I employ all the farmers who are in the same predicament than me because these type of activities can actually derail your dreams and you can actually think that farming is not good for you. But if you take strategies like that let people who've got security, a farm with spinach and all these other crops but for you if people are stealing from you all you need to do is to plant a premium crop that is uncommon like I've been showing you I've planted asparagus now and we hope to achieve good results. Don't eat that. Parents, I appeal whoever is a parent, whoever is a father, a mother must think of the future of the generations to come. It may not be in the field of agriculture, it may be in other fields but it's important that we create such opportunities for our future children. Are you doing farming as a four-time job? Unfortunately not at this stage. I so wish I can but you have to balance the scale based on my history to actually manage because you need to live you still need to put food on the table and as we try to claim our space into this economy of South Africa you still have to balance the income issues versus to the future. So I am a part-time farmer of which I so wish that I can be full-time but I also need to provide for my family. So as I start with this journey I have to ensure that my children my future children are provided and I see this as a gateway as a link towards them having such opportunities in the future. Since you are a part-time farmer I just want to ask you this question a corporate job or entrepreneurship? Entrepreneurship anytime but you must remember and entrepreneurship comes with a lot of dedication because you see what tends to put people on the corporate side is the fact that they are guaranteed of an income at the end of the month. So with entrepreneurship you have to think out of the box and actually lead a life that will ensure that whatever money you get it's sort of create an income stream that comes in even if you are not at your particular job. So farming basically creates that environment for you because even if I'm at work I know that production is taking place at this stage. So which means if I employed people that works for you then? Yes I do. So far how many people work for you in here? I currently have three people that work for me or that we work with and they've ate it I've changed their life in a way. They are changing my life as well because I also learned from them. So as an entrepreneur it's important that you don't become overheaded and think that you know it all. As a human being you always learn. So whatever the lessons that people give you you must receive them interpret them analyze them and see how they add value to you basically. The current farming methods that you see the white man that has you know involved and make it like modern agriculture some of these started way back in Africa. Like I said places like Mapungube where villages were doing this modern agriculture they were farming to feed the whole village. It was not what we see today in Africa where the family tries and feed itself. So the battering system for instance that used to take place. So you plant maize I need maize for my chicken so I plant cabbage so we'll exchange before the money issue came. So these systems were there so the actual money actually in a way was a chaos because it came with a lot of negative issues including the saying a money is the root of all evil. But they wouldn't say maize is the root of all evil because people were able to trade using those those systems. So those systems were good even the the gold and diamonds that you see today that Africans do not have they actually emanate from us. What then happened the white man saw us okay you see here these people are actually wealthier than us but we can far surpass them. All the diamonds the gold that is mined in Africa goes to the votes in the UK in all the western countries and they stock them as their securities and they'll give you money money of which you can lose value but gold never loses its value. Diamonds that we have originally from our land. That doesn't mean that an African doesn't know its value. Africans need to learn and appreciate the value of land because with land you get all these interest all these values that are coming in whether you're looking at earth you're looking at the surface you're looking it on the on the on the skies Africa is rich. Do you know how impressed I am? It's winter and whatever you're growing on the ground still grows. Correct. So which means that it's a blessing to be an African? Definitely it's a blessing to be an African in so many ways that at times we think being blessed is to drive those posh cars being blessed and wealthy means living in great suburbs but being able to breathe is the wealth that has been passed from generations to generations. So this is my apiary. This is where I keep my bees from the city like a farm as our today you'll actually taste the actual honey produced from these bees oh yes last night I actually harvested for you oh yes but do the beets come out yes they do it's just that today it's cold and they're not okay come on it's cold man I want them to run away okay what happened you see here there are no bees now okay it's always wise when you work with bees to work at the back and the front is occupied so come this side a bit please so as you can see I left that honey from last night okay honey comb just for the because it dropped so I just left it for them they'll actually eat that honey or take that honey into the hive it will take it back yes including the comb they'll eat the the comb and take it into the into the hive to create their honey comb so it's always when you've got honey in abundance you can actually feed them the honey itself yes so what do they eat then honey is their food honey is what we eat as honey and think it's our food it's actually a food made for the bees so the way the bees were designed they're designed for the actual to withstand times that they don't have food which is winter so in they work the whole summer to put together the feed that will last them the whole winter without the feed because what happens in winter all the vegetation around comes to an end so your normal flowers that flowers during the summer in winter there's no flowering these are concrete hives now normally bees are farmed in boxes wooden wooden boxes like that but it's very costly to actually buy a box or build a box compared to the concrete hives now concrete it's just the soil from the ground you mix with cement yeah you cast it onto a mold yeah and then you take it out and it becomes a house for the bees we use an aggregate material called pellite pellite is used commonly in all agricultural space either for to to aerate the soil they use pellite so we mix soil with pellite to actually make sure that in winter it is warm in summer it is cool yes and these bees will never run out because they always find themselves at home so whether it's winter or summer they don't they don't need to abdicate the place because now it's winter so we have less absconding or less swimming in the in the bees language I feel the one that we eat is mixed wow as you can see one of the very helpful the tools that I have is my Chinese walk behind tractor it actually does wonders for me because I don't need people to plow and use the who we just use that machine okay to plow the basically all my lens we use the machine over nice I can see like free-range chickens yes we've got some free-range chickens and we specialize in black australops and black australops are very good chickens as they produce quite a lot of meat and they are jewel pepper's breed they actually also give you nice eggs so it's the same type of farming everywhere do you believe that agriculture is the future agriculture is more than the future actually you can you can just see from the every morning when you wake up I'm not even talking food you you wear your shoes you go and and and have a bath all these are agricultural products soap for instance you can make from the bees are you aware of that yeah can actually make soap from the comb um um there's just so much in agriculture that on our daily basis sometimes we take it for granted that it is agriculture that clothes us feeds us it's a profitable definitely profitable at scale definitely profitable I encourage the youth to enter the agricultural space to look beyond even agriculture and say what do we do as a mechanism to actually empower other youths who may not be interested in agriculture do you need a lot of money to start farm can I just explain because this is a a sore tone in most people they say I cannot start doing agriculture because I need a lot of money to do so so one of the strategies one which I can advocate is to actually have a side hustle that will fund your agricultural dreams have some activities that generate income on a monthly basis that will then fund operation in your agricultural space if you just run cold face into agriculture you may be shocked because you can see your money you know almost like forex where it just disappears but it's important to have a backup of a side hustle to actually have that cash generating to plant into this type of an activity then it will be an easier or a better way of managing you can start at a small scale and scale up it's possible say a hundred chickens you you sell them you take the profit you plant it you see one of the greatest mistakes that youth does is that when they invest and they see the cash they take that money and party they take that money and buy clothes all the the the the fashion the labels what is important as a farmer is to say rather than buying a Louis Vuitton bag at 70 000 what input can I do to the farm that in return will give me back more than 70 000 you see so it's important to invest in the farming activities to invest in yourself empower yourself with the knowledge then you'll be sure to succeed where can people reach out to you well i am available on the socials that being on facebook as in plantas zuma or acid lege farms and i am i am also on instagram as acid lege farms and yeah those are the main channels and of course maybe wade will help me fine tune my youtube channel yeah youtube channel too yes i do but uh but look it's something that i've created and i i am growing in it it's called acid lege farm youtube channel okay i've posted a few of my harvest of honey okay in it but most people of course don't know about me me so this is what i'm always here you have to know about him so this is what you're gonna do the link will be in the description you all should go check him out and you know what i i think i have to give you uh an assignment that as soon as i leave here start posting it i mean inspire more youth to join the agriculture journey man because i feel like the youth of today don't know the importance of agriculture i would say i've had quite a number of um african brothers they normally say south africans are lazy i think it's a a notion that needs to be changed because south africans are hardworking like like all other nations basically there are south africans who wake up four o'clock in the morning and and make sure that they feed their families south africa is today like this because of black people who've been waking up early morning as domestic workers going and working in the white neighborhoods even today it's happening so the notion that south africans are lazy i think it's a fallacy and people need to get into south africa and really understand south africans uh how do we do things uh i'm here i'm i i woke up at four this morning yeah uh i was working i i'm it doesn't even register to say i'm lazy it it means that there's work that needs to be done maybe the notion may be right when people are not having land they are not working they may be seen as people who are not who are lazy but give the people land let the people work people will work i think it's a system that was created by the apartheid government that has affected because like you you don't you don't own land so definitely you don't have anything to do yeah yeah i want to say thank you so much for talking to me i really appreciate your time and i wish you all the best but i'll be back again in summer thank you so much thank you so much you watch my videos right i i'm your fan i never knew i got fans from south africa so if you're from south africa you watch my videos let me know in the comment section and listen i love you guys man yeah and don't forget to subscribe and be part of the awesome family i'll see you all in the next one but go check out this youtube channel and subscribe to my name is still mr garner baby you're one and only out knowing village boy from garner peace out