Ephraim Tshobeka, a lecturer at the Central University of Technology (CUT), regards farming with worms as an environmentally conscious business that will contribute positively to our future.

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About 22% of waste around the world is food waste, and Tshobeka adds that in Bloemfontein, this waste ends up in landfills. He explains that waste can be used in conjunction with worms for the promotion of soil health.

He says that by continually planting crops on the same piece of land without putting back the needed nutrition, could be disastrous in the future.

“When you drive around the Northern Cape, you will see patches and patches of spaces where there’s some sort of desertification, where the soil has lost quite a lot of organic content.”

“If you enter into this business [of worm farming] you are actually saving soil. Because when you take out the plants, for example, potatoes, you are taking away the organic mass in the soil. So, when you enter into this business, you are contributing to the preservation of the soil [for generations to come].

Tshobeka also added that worm farming has the potential to alleviate poverty in rural communities. He says this type of farming is not very popular in the Free State and therefore creates a market for potential farmers.

Provinces such as the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, as well as Gauteng, are successfully implementing worm farming.

It is quite inexpensive to start farming with worms as Tshobeka, who houses the CUT's worms in one of his garages at his home, explains you would only need a space that is dark, soil, food waste, some old newspapers and organic material such as leaves to create the worm bed. Also, do some research on where you can buy your first batch of worms to start farming.

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