Vonnie Baloyi’s
journey into cleantech innovation began not in a laboratory or lecture hall, but in a dream.
Baloyi is the founder of Vonnie Projects, a women-led enterprise based in Bloempoort, Groblersdal, in Limpopo, that converts food waste into affordable livestock feed and bio briquettes made from livestock dung.
She recalls the exact moment the idea first took shape. “I was a sweet potato farmer in 2023 when one night I had a dream of me harvesting peanuts,” she said. “Immediately, I decided to grow peanuts in the following season. But when I looked at the yields, I realised I wasn’t going to make any profit from just selling peanuts. That’s when I saw the opportunity in agro-waste.”
Self-taught
Her roots shaped what followed. Growing up in Bloempoort, she walked long distances to collect firewood just to cook. That experience never left her. “I was influenced to go into this business by my lived experiences.”
Baloyi is a self-taught car mechanic and farmer. She built her innovation on hands-on knowledge, not formal scientific training. “I have a mechanical background and farming experiences. I had to ask myself one question: how can agricultural waste be a solution rather than be a problem? Farmers are struggling with the high costs of livestock feed and households are battling high costs of energy. That was how I came up with these two ideas.”
Her products address both challenges at once. The livestock feed reduces input costs for farmers. The bio briquettes offer households a cheaper, cleaner energy source. Both are manufactured through a community-centred model that also generates income. “We have a community buy-back model where farmers and households sell their waste to Vonnie Projects, which, in turn, manufactures the two products. We create income streams for communities while also reducing waste,” she explains.
Business award
The results have not gone unnoticed. As the overall winner of the South African leg of the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme, she received R200 000 to scale her innovation and expand its reach.
The programme, run through a partnership with the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, supports small, medium and micro enterprises that address climate and environmental challenges.
Baloyi received the award during South African Innovation Week, organised by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation and TIA.
For more information, email Vonnie on vonieb.vb@gmail.com
The Technology Innovation Agency can be reached at www.tia.org.za
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