Startup Story
Zenzile Silvia Mabitsela is the founder of Masana Generation Project in South Africa, a poultry farming business specialising in broiler chickens, crop production, and rabbit production. She is a leader and social entrepreneur, a farmer, and a public speaker, who likes to work with local communities. Zenzile is passionate about her work and has an openness to learning and implementation in her business. She registered the business in 2014 and started operations full-time in 2018.
LoA spoke to Zenzile about the motivation for starting a business and her vision for the future.
What does your company do?
We deliver healthy, quality fresh chickens - live chickens and butchered chickens. We sell a range of different cuts for our butchered chickens, including whole fresh chickens, wings, necks, skin, hearts, livers, gizzards, thighs, quarter legs, Mala, chicken feet, chicken heads, and marinated chickens. In terms of our crops production, we plant cabbage, spinach, beetroot, onions, and butternut.
“I have realized that securing food as humans is a priority, recognizing that we will always consume food during our life-times, and therefore this is a green business and sustainable for generations to come.”
What inspired you to start your company?
I have realized that securing food as humans is a priority, recognizing that we will always consume food during our life-times, and therefore this is a green business and sustainable for generations to come. I also believe in transferring skills to other young women.
What makes your business, service or product special?
We make our products easily accessible to our customers and ensure speedy and convenient, timely and high-quality delivery of our fresh products.
Tell us a little about your team
We have a well-equipped and highly experienced team, ensuring high-quality delivery services. They are continuously receiving training when necessary and we are compliant and follow all the regulations according to the law of South Africa. Our team members have good working relationships with each other and also with our customers. We also have interns in our team as a way of positively impacting our local community, and also volunteers who get to learn key skills.
“We make our products easily accessible to our customers and ensure speedy and convenient, timely and high-quality delivery of our fresh products.”
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And, do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
Over the years, I have worked at various NGOs and companies in order to save money to start the business. I have succeeded in buying materials, a van for transport, machinery, and the materials needed to build a chicken house, build stock money, and start this entrepreneurial journey. My inspiration came from my mother who was selling chickens and that's where I learned. I started a programme of study to become a poultry professional, also learning crop production skills as well as rabbit production. I attended the Fetola cohort programme, which gave me practical support and mentored me on how to run a business - that has helped me with my skills development. My entrepreneurial journey has been recognized by several awards and acknowledgements - I am the winner of the Gauteng Township Business Development Programme, recognised by Sunday World Heroine Women, featured in the Tshwane Bulletin, and recognised as an African Woman Agri-business Nominee.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
To create a skills development training centre, a butchery for customer pick-up, to create more jobs, and to help other women to build their wealth. To create a space to launch a project that manufactures pillows using our chicken feather waste. Also to look at processing our chicken manure and innovating through our waste reduction.
“My inspiration came from my mother who was selling chickens and that's where I learned. I started a programme of study to become a poultry professional, also learning crop production skills as well as rabbit production.”
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
The freedom to be independent, to create room for learning and opportunity, to embrace creativeness, and networking with other businesses in order to learn from each other.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Start small and persevere. Stay focused and implement the skills you learn. Keep pushing.
Find out more
Email: silviazsmabitsela@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Silvia.mabitsela3
Twitter: http://www.linkedin.com/in/silvia-mabitsela-599426159
Why LoA loves it…
The issue of ensuring food security has never been more important, and women entrepreneurs building sustainable community-based agribusinesses have an important role to play in meeting this challenge. Silvia Mabitsela is a passion-driven entrepreneur who is focused on building a sustainable agribusiness that is not only a green business, but also one that creates opportunities for other young women to learn essential skills of their own. Inspirational! — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa