Makhado · Vhembe District · Limpopo

Grown on 90% less water, in a district that can't spare any more.

MDS Green Heaven is a women-led hydroponic vegetable farm bringing premium, water-wise produce to Vhembe District — and a new kind of technical, local, skilled job to the women and youth of Makhado.

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NFT CHANNEL — LETTUCE · ROW 01–03 EC 1.8 · pH 5.8 · 21°C
90%less water than open-field farming
20 hasite secured in Makhado
30jobs planned within 3 years
365days of year-round harvest
Our story
"We watched local farmers battle drought year after year, and asked: why can't this be grown here, by us, for us?"— Mpho Kutama, Managing Director
MphoManaging Director
DianahOperations Director
SharonFinance & Sales

Three sisters, one farm, a district that needed both.

MDS Green Heaven was founded by Mpho, Dianah and Sharon Kutama to solve a problem they saw up close: Vhembe District's vegetables were either trucked in from Gauteng at a premium, or grown locally at the mercy of drought. Hydroponics offered a third way — production that doesn't depend on the rain, using a fraction of the water conventional farming needs.

We're registered, B-BBEE certified, and have secured a 20-hectare site in Makhado. What we're building now is the farm itself: greenhouse infrastructure, a nursery, a pack-house, and a team drawn from our own community.

Why hydroponics

The same harvest, on a fraction of the water.

Vhembe District's biggest constraint on agriculture isn't land or sunlight — it's water. Hydroponics lets us grow more, more reliably, with far less of the resource that's scarcest here.

Water use
per kg produced
Open-field
100%
MDS hydroponic
≤10%
Harvest reliability
weeks of the year
Rain-fed
Seasonal
MDS hydroponic
52 weeks
Distance to Makhado
farm to buyer
Gauteng supply
~350 km
MDS Green Heaven
Local
What we grow

Five crops. One consistent harvest, every week.

Lettuce

28–35 day cycle

Spinach & chard

35–42 day cycle

Tomatoes

70–90 day cycle

Sweet peppers

80–100 day cycle

Herbs

21–30 day cycle

Where we grow

Makhado — on the N1, in the heart of Vhembe District.

Our site sits along Road R578, close enough to the N1 corridor to reach Polokwane, Musina and the Beitbridge border post, and to serve retailers, restaurants and schools across Vhembe District with same-day, same-week freshness.

MunicipalityVhembe District
Nearest routeRoad R578 / N1 corridor
Site size20 hectares
Water sourceBorehole + fertigation
StatusSite secured, Phase 1 in development
Impact

A farm that grows people, not just vegetables.

18

Permanent roles

Technical, year-round positions in fertigation, pack-house operations and quality control — skills that didn't exist as an option here before.

12

Seasonal roles

Peak-harvest positions supporting planting, grading and packing, drawn from the Makhado community.

100%

Women-led

Founded, owned and directed by three sisters, with women and youth given first priority in hiring and training.

0

Flood irrigation

Every litre is recirculated through the system, easing pressure on Vhembe District's groundwater and rivers.