Cape Town — Below are snapshots of some of South Africa's successful women farmers. All of them are recent winners of a female farmer competition run by provincial departments of agriculture, rural development and land administration in South Africa.

Nonie Mokose, based in South Africa's largely urban Gauteng province, started farming in 2004 by investing in intensive pig production. After a failed business transaction, she procured irrigated land and secured a commitment from the McCain Foods Ltd. to supply potatoes.

She now leases different plots and plant cultivars across the province, employing six permanent workers throughout the year and 275 seasonal workers during harvest time. Through McCain Foods she is also involved in skills development programmes.

Maria Malan of Northern Cape Province began farming in 2001 with two sheep on a municipal commonage. She now farms on a 1,900-hectare state farm with 253 livestock.

On average Malan sells 20 lambs three times a year at the local abattoir. She has been commended by an awards scheme for practising good natural resource management through rotational grazing and adhering to a government vaccination programme.

Malan's profits enabled her to buy a light delivery truck, which in turn helped to improve her operations and cut the cost of transporting animals to market. She employs community workers on a casual work basis to help with vaccination and dosing.

The Tswelang Pele Bomme Project from the Free State province was established in 2001 by a group of 36 women from the Itumeleng black residential township and is now managed by five women.

They grow beetroot, carrots, cabbage, squash, green beans, pumpkin, tomatoes and maize. They provide seasonal jobs for others and supply fresh vegetables to the local senior home for senior citizens, HIV/Aids orphanages and crèches in the community.