From Backyard to Business: Lessons from Ramokone Kwakwa’s New Dawn Poultry Farm

From Backyard to Business: Lessons from Ramokone Kwakwa’s New Dawn Poultry Farm. When Ramokone Kwakwa first bought a small batch of broilers with her bursary allowance, she was not just experimenting with farming. She was planting the seeds of a business that would grow into New Dawn Poultry Farm, a rising enterprise in Limpopo’s agricultural sector. Her journey from a student with no farming background to an award-winning agripreneur is a powerful story of resilience, strategy, and innovation.

Turning Challenges into Opportunities

Based in Moletjie, Limpopo, Kwakwa launched New Dawn Poultry Farm in October 2020 while studying for a diploma in public affairs and administration of state at Tshwane University of Technology’s Polokwane campus. With South Africa’s high unemployment rates weighing heavily on her mind, she decided to create her own path. Instead of spending her bursary allowance on short-term needs, she invested it into poultry farming.

The early days were not easy. Hailstorms destroyed infrastructure, rising feed costs threatened sustainability, and managing poultry without prior experience tested her resolve. Yet Kwakwa turned each obstacle into a lesson. She diversified her focus by expanding from broilers into layer production, tapping into the stable and growing demand for table eggs. This shift became the backbone of her business model.

Building a Market Through Strategy

New Dawn Poultry Farm’s growth has been powered not only by production but also by smart marketing. Kwakwa built a loyal client base by targeting households, spaza shops, and local retailers who rely on affordable and consistent egg supply. By positioning her farm as both reliable and community-driven, she gained the trust of customers who now form the foundation of her sales network.

Her approach highlights a vital lesson for entrepreneurs: growth is not just about producing more, but about knowing your market and securing consistent demand. In her case, eggs became the ideal product because they offered stability compared to the more volatile broiler market.

Recognitions and Support

Kwakwa’s hard work has attracted recognition and support from several institutions. She has benefited from programs run by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), Polokwane municipality, Core Energy Incubation Program, and the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency (Sefda). These opportunities not only provided financial backing but also mentorship and exposure.

Her dedication was further recognised in 2025 when she became one of the top 17 winners of the Limpopo Hollywood Foundation Bambela Business Awards, receiving a R40 000 grant. This milestone reinforced her reputation as a serious entrepreneur and provided resources to expand her operations.

Scaling Up with Vision

Currently, New Dawn Poultry Farm is home to hundreds of layers, but Kwakwa’s ambitions reach far beyond her current capacity. She envisions scaling up to over 50 000 egg-producing hens in the coming years to meet the region’s rising demand. This expansion plan reflects her ability to think long-term, a quality that sets apart entrepreneurs who build sustainable businesses from those who operate only in survival mode.

Her strategy also includes diversifying revenue streams within the poultry value chain. By continuing to raise both broilers and layers, she reduces risk while positioning herself to serve different segments of the market.

Lessons for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Kwakwa’s journey offers several actionable lessons:

• Start with what you have: She began with her student allowance, proving that small, calculated investments can grow into sustainable businesses.
• Adapt and diversify: When broilers alone proved inconsistent, she pivoted to egg production, ensuring stability.
• Build relationships with your market: Loyal customers are more valuable than one-off sales. Kwakwa’s focus on reliability and affordability has anchored her growth.
• Seek support systems: Leveraging opportunities from agencies and incubators gave her both resources and credibility.
• Think long-term: Her vision for expansion to 50 000 hens shows the importance of scaling with strategy, not just ambition.

A New Dawn for Women in Farming

Kwakwa’s success story is also about representation. In an industry still dominated by men, she has proven that women can thrive in commercial farming by combining resilience with innovation. Her journey is inspiring a new generation of young people in Limpopo to consider agribusiness not just as a fallback but as a pathway to empowerment and economic growth.

New Dawn Poultry Farm is more than just a supplier of eggs and poultry products. It is a reminder that entrepreneurship often begins with courage and a willingness to take risks when opportunities are scarce. By betting on herself, Ramokone Kwakwa turned her backyard project into a promising enterprise, lighting the way for others who dare to dream beyond limitations.