Farming and urban farming has typically been a sector where men receive recognition for the work that they do. However, with so many incredible work opportunities more women are taking an interest and thriving in this industry.
According to Farming Portal women account for 60-80% of smallholder farmers, and many of these women are working to address issues such as food insecurity and sustainability. Furthermore, every Rand earned by women yields the same effect as R11 earned by men, which illustrates why integrating more women in the farming industry can have a great impact on grappling with food insecurity.
As more women are embracing careers in urban farming and are looking for guidance from other female farmers, Prenasha Naidoo, Managing Director at MicroThumbs that supplies microgreens to retailers countrywide, unveils her journey and learnings in the hopes of encouraging young women looking to forge a similar career.
It started with a passion project
Prenasha’s career began in finance where she was a marketing specialist and the first graduate financial advisor for the largest graduate professional financial services provider in South Africa. The company that she worked for created an entirely new department around Prenasha, as they identified her talent for connecting and relating to varsity students using these services for the first time. For four years Prenasha worked her way up the finance corporate ladder until she started to lose the fire inside her for this line of work. “My personality is not only analytical, it’s creative, too, and when you are in that kind of industry you can’t express your creativity,” she explains.
Whilst trying to find other creative avenues she started to develop a passion project on the side – growing microgreens at home. Microgreens are tiny forms of young edible greens that are produced from herbs, vegetables and other plants, that contain up to 40x more nutrients than mature vegetables. At first Prenasha and her partner Rick Hein began growing microgreens for their own consumption, but as their love for the greens grew, so did interest in their crops, and soon they were supplying to restaurants and retailers.
“We really took time to study microgreens, and we took over our entire garage to grow our plants. Eventually we couldn’t keep up with the demand for our product on our own and decided to onboard employees,” says Naidoo.
A leap of faith
As Prenasha saw her side business take off, she realised that the long hours at her corporate job and demanding client relationships were hindering her ability to fully scale the fledgling microgreen business she and Rick had started. “I found myself not having any time at the end of my workday to input my creative ideas into the business. By then, we were providing microgreens to restaurants and retailers and orders were flowing in.”
Their success prompted Naidoo to take a step back and evaluate her career direction. “I was at a crossroads of staying in my comfort zone with what I knew in corporate finance or taking the leap of faith into my business,” she recalls.
It was at this point in 2021 that Prenasha resigned from her corporate role and transitioned fully into her urban farming career. “When I finally resigned from my job, I did not think twice about it. I was so confident that the business was going to be a success. No one sets out with an intention to fail, but because I felt so passionate about our product, I didn’t have any worries or reservations about leaving my nine-to-five corporate job.”
Witnessing the marvel of nature in how quickly microgreens grow within a seven day period, and knowing how much nutritional value they have, made embarking on this urban farming career all the more enthralling for Naidoo, who discovered to her joy that she has green fingers and a real knack for figuring out how to harness plant health for human benefit.
Today MicroThumbs has 28 indoor vertical farms countrywide; these smaller urban farms ensure a regulated growing environment and fail-proof, fresh delivery of the greens. In keeping with the company’s vision of education and sustainability, the company has kickstarted their first urban school farm partnership at Alberton High School this year. The school farm allows school children to learn about food security, farming and business, as well as giving the school an avenue to earn an extra income, as the company buys their crops to re-sell.
Prenasha’s advice
Prenasha is now thriving in her urban farming career, enjoying how it’s allowed her to strike a balance between fostering her creative side by growing microgreens and developing new products – such as a tasty pea-shoot pesto – while still being able to use her financial skills and ability on the business side of things.
For other young women looking to forge their own farming career Prenasha’s advice is simple: “You have to start out with a passion for this line of work. You need to wake up with a feeling of excitement and pride that this is what you get to do, because you’ll face hardships along the way, and you’ll need your dedication to get you through gruelling times.”
“Know that you will have obstacles to overcome, but remember to reflect on the amazing work you are doing, especially if it relates to sustainable farming. In this male dominated industry knowing who you are and being true to what you stand for will propel you to the same level of success of any other farmer – be that a man or woman,” Prenasha concludes.
