Gcina Dlamini

2018 Fellowship Alumnus, Eswatini

YALI Voices Podcast: For Gcina Dlamini Success as an Agripreneur Started Early

As a Fellow, I’ve been really empowered, challenged to do a lot as I go back to my community… For Africa to be food secure, young people have a role to play as the largest percentage of population in Africa.”

Gcina Dlamini, 2018 Fellowship Alumnus, Eswatini
https://soundcloud.com/yalinetwork/iiipgic-yali-gcina-dlamini-102318-sh
Gcina tends to his field of bean seeds during the green stage. (Courtesy of Gcina Dlamini)

Gcina Dlamini, a 2018 Fellowship Alumnus from Eswatini, discovered his passion for agriculture at a young age. In high school, Gcina recalls creating a small backyard garden where he would grow vegetables and fruits using seedlings he received from his agricultural program at school. Soon his small garden turned into a small business and Gcina began selling his produce to members of his community. A desire to help his mother market the family farm is partly why Gcina became interested in entrepreneurship and, in 2013, started his own business, Smiling Through Investments (STIN), an agribusiness company specializing in the legume, seed, and bean value addition industries.

In this YALI Voices podcast, Gcina discusses the challenges he faced as a young person trying to further develop his business, such as the struggles of gaining capital and access to land. Read the full transcript.

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