He took the bull by the horns to achieve success

Luvo Kiyane is not only at the helm of a profitable livestock initiative on a shared state land reform farm in the Elliot district of the Eastern Cape, but also owns a vibrant wool services business. 

-  Mike Burgess

Luvo Kiyane (34) was raised by his grandparents, David and Nowinara Kiyane, in uLahlangubo, near Cala, in the Eastern Cape. Here, as a boy, he spent many days tending to the family’s livestock in the vast communal grazing areas of the region.

In 2004, when Kiyane was 17, his grandfather gained access to a 530ha farm, Shuna, in the nearby Elliot district via the state Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme. Shuna was initially shared by 10 other beneficiaries (today six), making it difficult for the grandfather-grandson team to make ends meet; a reality that always forced Kiyane to find alternative income streams.

In mid-2023 his grandfather died, and Kiyane now farms 130 Merino sheep and 50 crossbred breeding cows on Shuna alone while steering Kiyane Shearing Contractors in Cala.

ROAD TO AGRICULTURAL INDEPENDENCE

Kiyane’s grandfather was relieved to transfer his livestock from uLahlangubo location to Shuna in 2004. “It was difficult to farm in the communal areas, because the land was shared by everyone,’’ says Kiyane. “You cannot, for example, have breeding seasons and manage disease like sheep scab.’’

After Kiyane and his grandparents had settled on Shuna, it was decided that he would complete his education at the Ida High School which the principal, Ruben Gouws, had turned into a local farm school that became recognised nationally for academic excellence.

After completing his schooling, Kiyane studied for a national diploma in agriculture at the Grootfontein College of Agriculture in Middelburg in the Eastern Cape.