Bubbly pig farmer Miriam Mulungo says farming is “cool” and it is the responsibility of every South African to play their part in food security.

“I have been a pig farmer since 2003. I left my job as a nurse because I had a passion for farming. I want to encourage South Africans to be involved in farming, especially young people,” she said.

Mulungo owns Mulungo Agricultural Piggery and Crop in Modderfontein, Gauteng, which employs eight permanent workers and produces about 200 pigs a month for abattoirs in the area.

She has 220 sows and five boars and impregnates the sows via artificial insemination.

Mulungo’s love of farming started at a young age, when she would go to the field to help her mother.

“We had cattle when I was growing up and we just loved farming. Everything we ate came from the soil,” said Mulungo, explaining that her mother grew maize, peanuts and yogo beans.

 The successful farmer’s journey was not always easy and she struggled in the beginning.

• This article was originally published in the GCIS Vuk'uzenzele.