Agri Entrepreneurship: Reiger Park school empowers young women to break agricultural stereotypes

In Reiger Park, Gauteng, Oosrand Commerce and Entrepreneurship School of Specialisation is empowering young women through agriculture. The school’s agriculture programme is providing hands-on training to complement the theoretical agricultural subjects aligned with the Caps curriculum offered at the school, says Charl Jansen van Rensburg. Jansen van Rensburg is the chief operating officer at Employment Solution Management (ESM). ESM is responsible for the learners’ training at the school. The agricultural programme was running for the second year and was currently training 20 learners, most of whom were young women, said Jansen van Rensburg. The 20 learners were selected based on academic merit and their interest in the programme, and it was by chance that the majority were girls.“We are breaking stereotypes. We are showing them that farming and agricultural careers are not only for men,” said the school’s agricultural studies teacher Joyce Ngcobo on the significance of the programme. She added that the school was motivating the young women in the programme to study agriculture, and pursue careers in farming and agricultural research after school.Growing skills at schools of specialisationBefore the programme began, agriculture was strictly theoretical at the school, Ngcobo said.But in 2024, non-profit organisation MarketPlace Academy approached the school and installed a borehole and horticulture tunnel, said academy CEO Chantyl Mulder.In that same year, another two horticulture tunnels were installed by Shoprite Foundation, said its director, Maude Modise. The agricultural programme was then introduced as part of a pilot project offering technical training at eight schools of specialisation in Gauteng, said Mulder. The project aimed to develop the skills of learners and build their employability while they were still at school level.During its pilot phase, 10 learners were trained at Oosrand Commerce and Entrepreneurship School of Specialisation, but the group had grown to 20 learners this year, said Jansen van Rensburg.In the tunnels after hours The 20 participants received practical agricultural training such as plant production, irrigation and soil testing after school on Mondays and Fridays from facilitators at ESM. The training was funded by sustainable mining and agricultural company Omnia, said Mulder. Although official training lessons were after school hours, facilitators visited the school for the entire school day, allowing learners to engage with them during break times as well, according to Jansen van Rensburg. Learners were receiving accredited training, he said. He added that learners received credits aligned with AgriSETA for their participation in the programme. The programme was split into four modules that mainly covered the practical side of the theoretical concepts learners were taught in class.He said learners received a certificate accredited with AgriSETA after every year that they were part of the programme. When progressing to matric, learners at the school would have the opportunity to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning, and gain a full agricultural certificate through skills programmes completed that would complement their National Senior Certificate (NSC).Fresh produce grows inside one of the school’s horticulture tunnels. (Photo: Supplied / Bianca Janse van Rensburg) Produce and profitNgcobo said the learners were working well, as they had not had any damaged harvests thus far. The crops grown at the school were influenced by the wider community’s diet, Mulder said. MarketPlace Academy conducted research and discovered that the Reiger Park community loved to eat chillies, so the school took this as an opportunity to grow and dry chillies, and sell them for a profit to the community.Ngcobo added that the learners also grew staples such as cabbage, spinach, carrots, beetroot, onions and tomatoes, which were also sold to the community. The entrepreneurial elements of the programme had played a key role in maintaining learners’ interest, according to Jansen van Rensburg. Apart from farming, learners were taught how to process and sell food. Jansen van Rensburg said this had helped stimulate learners who had occasionally felt demotivated.Ngcobo noted that not all vegetables were sold – some were cooked and served to students as part of the school’s feeding scheme.What the future holds Learners were not the only ones being trained, said Mulder. Two teachers at the school (one of whom was Ngcobo) did 15 months of agricultural training. These teachers then qualified as occupational trainers in February with the goal of becoming the facilitators of the school’s agricultural programme next year, said Jansen van Rensburg. In the long term, he added, ESM was looking into how the programme could help learners access jobs in the agricultural field directly after matriculating. But this had yet to be tested. DM