DEMO4 – VALOTA FARM, PHILLIPI, SOUTH AFRICA

Background:

Valota farm is a private owned farm, the only certified organic farm in the area. The black-owned farm houses 12 permanent staff and 10 casuals in season. 99% of their produce is sold as wholesale. Valota has a functional website to access a wider audience other than those who would pass by the farm (https://valota.co.za/)

Location:

Valota farm is located in the Philippi area. The farm is roughly 13 hectares, unfenced and in close proximity of Browns farm village, a village planned out in 1986 by the Apartheid government with an initial urban density of 25 housing units per hectare. In 1994, a portion of Browns farm village was “settled” over the course of a weekend as informal structures were erected on 500 sites during a land invasion. Many of the Browns farm village occupants are unemployed and in search of economic opportunities.

Farm products:

The community members of Brown farm village would occasionally walk onto the farm grounds and harvest with no permission. As a result, the farm focuses on crops with limited value to the poor; Micro greens, edible flowers, onions, peashoots, broad beans, radish, fennel, marrow, coriander, golden turnip, kale, Italian parsley, beetroot and green beans.

The farm operates two small green house tunnels (2m x 8m structures). Between winter and summer season, 3 and 6 hectares respectively, are cultivated. The farm is making use of bore hole water, which is pumped into two dams for intermediate storage. During winters there is typically a surplus of water and irrigation is limited. The borehole water is known to contain a little too much salts which stunts plant growth.

Energy supply and consumption:

The majority of the country’s energy is provided by the national power utility, Eskom, which generates 73% of its electricity from coal-fired power stations. The farmhouse has an annual energy consumption of 85,000 kWh, with an estimated 8,000 kWh dedicated to cold storage. In 2023, Eskom imposed a record 6,947 hours of load shedding, one of the primary factors contributing to the country’s low economic growth that year [1]. Farmers are particularly affected, as load shedding disrupts the operation of farming equipment, pumps, and compressors. As a result, diesel generators are often used to meet essential electricity needs. The Valota farm has no diesel generators, instead, to reduce the impact of loadshedding, they limit the size of the cultivated area.

1. [https://www.statista.com/ statistics/1459776/number-of-load-shedding-hours-in-south-africa/]