BY NOMTHANDAZO MAYISELA (INTERN)
MATSETSA– Under the early morning sun in Matsetsa, Melissa Smith walks through rows of green vegetables, carefully checking her crops. What started as family land is now becoming a structured farming business supplying cabbage, lettuce and butternut to local markets.
Smith returned to farming after the death of her father, leaving her job at MTN to take over the land he had allocated for agriculture. Today, she supplies produce to Mpaka SaveMore, informal traders and nearby households, building a system that balances livelihood and income.
Raised by her grandparents, she grew up in farming, working with maize and poultry. This background shaped her understanding of agriculture as both a survival system and a business opportunity.
Her production currently focuses on leafy and field vegetables, with plans to introduce cayenne peppers. However, water remains her biggest challenge, as she depends on Eswatini Water Services Corporation supply and rainwater, both of which are costly and unreliable.
Financial constraints have also slowed her expansion. She previously ventured into poultry farming but paused it to focus on stabilising vegetable production.
Despite these challenges, Smith continues to build her skills. She has attended training at Kitali and completed bookkeeping training through Likusasa Letfu. She is now enrolled in a tunnel farming programme supported by the Woman Farmer Foundation.
The programme is helping her improve irrigation, pest control and off-season production, allowing her to move towards more stable and consistent yields.
Her approach is strongly market-driven. “Farming must be linked to a market. You cannot just produce without knowing who will buy,” she said.
Smith also highlighted water as a key issue affecting farmers. “Farmers need hands-on training where they are, not only in towns. Water management should be a priority because it affects everything we produce,” she said.
Despite the constraints, she continues to expand gradually, adjusting crop cycles based on seasonal conditions and available resources. Her long-term goal is to build a stable vegetable production unit capable of supplying consistent volumes to both formal and informal markets.
For now, her operation remains small but structured, reflecting a growing generation of farmers moving from subsistence to market-driven agriculture in Eswatini.
#Agriculture #YouthInFarming#Eswatini #FoodSecurity
(Courtesy Pic)
