On the 26th of August, GCBRs Smallholder Extension Officer, Simthandile Ponti, along with Phumudzo Mudau from South African Pork Producers Organisation (SAPPO) hosted a training programme aimed at equipping smallholder farmers with the essential knowledge and skills needed to improve their pig production practices.
This community focused initiative aimed to build capacity among smallholder pig farmers by providing practical insights into breeding, weaning, feed management, and biosecurity. Most smallholder farmers tend to neglect the importance of biosecurity, and this comes after a smallholder farmer brought 8 piglets from a neighbouring farm but didn’t apply biosecurity measures, and in all this, he lost 5 piglets in a space of three days.
Smallholder farmers were engaging and asking questions and the active engagement on the day reaffirmed the importance of inclusive, collaborative learning spaces in agriculture. SAPPO recapped its commitment to creating platforms where all farmers regardless of scale or ability, can grow, thrive, and make meaningful contributions to the sector.
The training not only strengthened participants technical capacity but also fostered awareness on responsible farming practices. By investing in farmer education, SAPPO continues to support smallholder farmers in becoming competitive, resilient and aligned with industry standards.
