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Thohoyandou  Service Centre assistant director Mr Ofhani Mudzielwana (standing left), Cllr David Mamushiana (second from left), royal council member Mr Wilson Nemadzhilili (third from left) and members of the cooperative hold the banana seedlings during the planting.

Help for banana project

 

The Thusalushaka Agricultural Cooperative, which has become a beacon of hope for many of the unemployed in rural Matsika outside Thohoyandou, received much-needed help last Thursday.

The Department of Agriculture's Thohoyandou Service Centre organized different stakeholders, among them experts from Univen, the Madzivhandila College, Vhembe District municipality's agriculture section and from the agricultural research council, to spend the day planting at the banana project. Traditional leaders from the surrounding villages and the ward councillor, Cllr David Mamushiana, also attended the event.

Started in early 1982 by the late Chief Mafenya Mphaphuli, the 102-hectare project was a dry land project with a focus on summer crops. The project faced challenge after challenge until 2015, when the Department of Agriculture financed the project to the tune of around R25 million and hired a contractor to assist the 50-member cooperative.

On Thursday, the banana project was a hive of activity where volunteers planted thousands of banana plants. Mr Ofhani Mudzielwana, the assistant director at the Thohoyandou Service Centre, said they felt they should go and assist the project during the planting of new banana trees. "Because of the heavy rains, there is little time for planting and the project is lagging behind. The planting season started a while ago and will be ending soon. We are here to encourage and empower them in order for them to beat the planting season deadline." He added that they would continue giving the project support.

Mr Wilson Nemadzhilili, a royal council member at Matsika, was full of praises for the initiative. "We are a very rural community and the project is making a big difference here. We are very thankful for what the department of agriculture and their friends did for us." The deputy chairperson of the project, Mr Mbulaheni Tshifura, praised the department and its partners for lending them a helping hand. “We still have thousands of seedlings that should be planted and only a short period is left. The manpower that came here made a huge difference.”

News - Date: 20 February 2017

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Ms Edna Raphunga, the assistant director of the Department of Agriculture in Vhembe, assists during the planting at Matsika.

The director of the Department of Agriculture in Vhembe, Ms Edna Raphunga, plants the first banana seedling, while royal council member Mr Wilson Nemadzhilili (left),  Cllr David Mamushiana (third from left) and others look on.  

 

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Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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