“He loved farming a lot,” says Luyanda Gagela (42) about his late father, George. “He always had tractors, cattle and sheep.” George started farming part-time in the communal areas of the Lupapasi region of the Eastern Cape's former Transkei while still a policeman.
By the 2000s he had retired from law enforcement and was able to focus on his communal farming enterprise consisting of a flock of 50 sheep and about 20 crossbred beef cattle. Not to be outdone, his wife Nomsa, then still a full-time teacher, tended to chickens, lambs and pigs around the homestead.
However, farming in the communal areas was challenging, with limited grazing resources shared by a multitude of farmers.
“Although my parents were doing well, they were still struggling,” recalls Luyanda. “You cannot mind
