Watermelons for Africa

A stunning Prince Albert B.E.E. Success Story


- Linda Jaquet -

Steven Conradie from Prince Albert has proved that sustainable, commercial black economic empowerment farming is not a pipe dream. In December last year Steven produced a record watermelon harvest that has astonished commercial farmers.

On one-and-a-half hectares of land on Deon Gouws’ farm, Nuweplaas, Steven has produced a crop of 13 500 watermelons. Experts at the Klein Karoo Kooperasie (KKK), say that normally, such a piece of land could be expected to produce about 6000 fruit!

To add to this achievement, Steven first targeted strategic markets from Plettenberg Bay to Mossel Bay and as far inland as Beaufort West, and ripened the melons just in time for the Christmas rush.

Lourens Conradie of the KKK was so impressed by Steven’s success and potential that the Kooperasie has offered to finance Steven’s current initiative to produce onion and pumpkin seeds for an international contract.

Steven heard about the State-sponsored project to develop vegetable farmers (PAGOP) run by Deon on Nuweplaas since 2004. Towards the end of last year he approached Deon about joining the programme, the two signed a contract and Steven’s Nag-tot-Nag Boerdery was born.

Steven chose to grow watermelons as his first crop, having seen them cultivated successfully near Gouda where he had once worked as a farm labourer. He told the Vriend that the success of the project was also due to the hard work of the fourteen men and women he hired.

Steven started from scratch on the bare, unworked piece of land in September 2006 and risked all his savings on seed, irrigation, other equipment, and wages. When problems arose, he asked experts for guidance and in his typical self-effacing manner, said that local farmers Herman Olivier, Hennie du Plessis, Deon Gouws and I D Vorster, had been very supportive. Deon Gouws said: “We believed in Steven’s commitment, his willingness to learn, management skills and his determination to succeed even in the face of adversity. He convinced us that he had the makings of a successful commercial farmer. We were right; he has been very successful without hurting my farming operations.”

Steven, who was born and educated in Prince Albert, and is married with two children, is no stranger to poverty. He has chopped wood, smuggled illicit cigarettes and alcohol and worked on building sites in the area. Steven’s immediate plans are to find more land he can lease to continue farming. He aims to own his own farm within five years and so also enable about thirty people to put food on the family table.

Steven’s advice to new farmers: “Don’t shy away from hard work and long, irregular hours”. He added: “Be prepared to take personal risks, just cope with the stress of financial insecurity and the anxieties that make up the life of every farmer.” Important, he noted, was that anyone new to farming shouldn’t be afraid to seek the advice of fellow, commercial farmers and of other experts.