Timbali Technology Incubator – Mpumalanga

With an aim to connect rural hardworking women farmers in the Nkomazi district to mainstream markets, Timbali believes in creating an enabling environment to empower its beneficiaries to be more food secure. It focuses on the facilitation of market access and loan financing, technical know-how as well as enhancing sales by monitoring the product support chain.

The grant provided by Woolworths to Timbali focuses on the following goals:

To identify 20 women involved in small scale farming
To appoint two extra Extension Product Services and Facilities (PSF) Officers
To provide the women farmers with training and support to improve their farming practices
To create clear monitoring and evaluation indicators, not limited to the increase in yields

Currently, the Timbali Programme has 21 beneficiaries, four of whom are young women.

The achievements of Timbali’s programmes are:

Over a 5-month period, the beneficiaries of the programmes received 240 field support visits where they were provided guidance from the extension officers.
Each of the farmers is provided with the Timbali operations procedures manual as a guideline to manage their farms more effectively.
Nine of the Woolworths-supported women farmers obtained loans at 0% interest rate valued at R823 071. This resulted in the production of 106 tons of vegetables.
In a period of a month, 13 of the women farmers generated a revenue of R430 608 and harvested 106 165 kg of vegetables in five months.
Timbali is in the process of facilitating a distribution point for its beneficiaries.

In South Africa, we realise and appreciate the role of women as caregivers and providers. We are proud to be in partnership with an organisation that respects and empowers its women farmers, providing them with the opportunity to thrive and build strong livelihoods. More power to you, Timbali!