South Africa’s small-scale farmers have long been the backbone of the country’s food system — growing the produce that feeds millions while struggling to access the formal markets that would make their efforts financially sustainable.
BSomebodySA, the Cape Town-based agripreneur company and official Brand Ambassador for Freshmark Systems, has launched uCanGrow with Freshmark — a supplier development initiative with one bold goal: to onboard 10,000 small-scale farmers onto the Freshmark Systems platform and connect them directly to formal retail markets by September 2026.
“The market is already there. Retailers are ready to buy. What we are doing is making sure the farmer is ready to supply,” said Bukho Dem, Founder of BSomebodySA.
“For too long, small-scale farmers have grown exceptional produce with nowhere to sell it at a fair price. uCanGrow with Freshmark changes that — permanently.”
The initiative, which launched off the back of a highly successful inaugural Freshmark Farmers Day held in Cape Town on 14 May 2026, brings together a powerful coalition of partners including Freshmark Systems, uCanGrow, Cheeba Hemp and Cannabis Academy, Land Bank and APAC — each playing a specific role in taking a farmer from the field to a formal supply agreement with a retailer.
Once a farmer is onboarded onto the Freshmark platform, they gain access to a guaranteed offtake for their crops, a digital supply chain that eliminates the paperwork and inefficiency that has historically excluded them, development finance through Land Bank and Land Bank Insurance, agricultural training through uCanGrow and Cheeba Hemp and Cannabis Academy, and market protection through APAC.
The initiative kicks off with a free webinar on Monday, 1 June 2026 from 10:00 to 11:00, open to all farmers in the Western Cape and across South Africa.
The webinar will walk farmers through the onboarding process, explain what resources are available to them and show them exactly how to start supplying formal retail markets through the Freshmark system.
“This is not just about market access,” said Ms Dem. “This is about income security, business growth and dignity for the small-scale farmer. When a farmer knows their crops have a buyer before they even plant — everything changes.”
For More Details:
Media Contact
Bukho Dem
0766869257
Dr Justy
0833247560
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