Farm workers cooperate to start their own operation
Retrenched group receive shot in arm from eThekwini
GCIS-Vukuzenzele"> By GCIS-Vukuzenzele - 25 May 2021 - 08:05
Farmworkers at the Cato Ridge Chicken Farm with eThekwini Municipality Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda.
Image: Vukuzenzele
Retrenched poultry farm workers in KwaZulu-Natal have formed a poultry cooperative after finding themselves without any means to make a living following the closure of farms they worked on.
The Cato Ridge Chicken Farm in Hammarsdale has inspired many farmworkers to use the skills they learnt when they were employed to start their own business.
The workers were left jobless in 2017 when RCL Foods, which owns Rainbow Chickens, sold 15 of its 25 farms. This resulted in a loss of 1,350 jobs. Of these workers, 129 formed Isukile Agricultural Cooperative, which started operating in December 2020.