Camilla Ndhlovu

What does your company do?

Oak Farm is a black female-owned commercial broiler production business located in Tzaneen. We raise broilers under a contract growing model currently rearing 40,000 birds per cycle and are expanding to 140,000 birds per cycle. Our focus is on producing healthy, high-quality chickens while maintaining high biosecurity and welfare standards. We operate with a hybrid system (manual and automated), supported by clear SOPs, and are committed to empowering rural communities through job creation and skills development.

What is your biggest success?

After 8 years of searching, I finally became the legal owner of my farm in 2025. I secured 29.97 hectares of land and launched Oak Farm, a broiler operation scaling to 140,000 birds per cycle. This came after two unpaid years of working with the seller, assisting in and out of production cycles to learn, build trust, and prepare the business. As a 29-year-old black female, this is an extraordinary achievement in a male-dominated industry. I also managed to employ 10 people and formalize Oak Farm as a commercial player. This is my first cycle operating entirely independently — a dream come true built from years of commitment, discipline, and sacrifice.

What has been your biggest hurdle?

What has been your biggest hurdle? (max 150 words) My biggest hurdle was securing funding from Land Bank to buy the property and also expand the operation. I began the process in 2022, and it took nearly three years of perseverance, paperwork, site visits, and delays to finally get the approval. During that time, I worked for two years with the seller on the farm, without pay, just to stay close to the opportunity. My last paid role was a YES internship program in 2021 through Youth@Work. I had no income during the process, and everything depended on that funding. It tested me emotionally and financially, but I kept going. In 2025, the property was finally registered in my name, and I began operations. That moment marked the end of a long, painful wait and the beginning of my purpose as a commercial farmer.