{"id":56272,"date":"2026-04-16T19:16:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T19:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=56272"},"modified":"2026-04-16T19:16:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T19:16:18","slug":"richards-bay-entrepreneur-builds-agri-tech-drone-company-focused-on-sustainable-farming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/04\/16\/richards-bay-entrepreneur-builds-agri-tech-drone-company-focused-on-sustainable-farming\/","title":{"rendered":"Richards Bay Entrepreneur Builds Agri-Tech Drone Company Focused on Sustainable Farming"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A 31-year-old entrepreneur from Richards Bay is carving out a niche in South Africa\u2019s growing agricultural technology sector through a drone company focused on sustainable farming, forestry and environmental conservation \u2014 a business she launched after seeing a WhatsApp advertisement for a training course.<\/p>\n<p>Bongiwe Nyawo founded Nyawo Zendalo Air in May 2024 after qualifying as a drone pilot through the Drone Divas program, run by Africa Beyond 4IR and sponsored by the Goethe-Institut. The program introduces women to drone technology and provides practical field experience. Nyawo was selected as one of the program\u2019s top participants and received a starter drone package upon completion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw an opportunity to start a business that was more aligned with sustainability and food security,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The company focuses on drone services for the agricultural, forestry and environmental conservation sectors, while also offering security monitoring, photography and videography services to generate revenue as the business grows.<\/p>\n<p>Nyawo\u2019s work has attracted recognition and financial support. She received funding from the KwaZulu-Natal Premier\u2019s Office Youth Fund, which helped her acquire an additional drone and office equipment, and was named the winner of the Dragons\u2019 Den 2025 Most Innovative Small Business Award, hosted by Absa and the Zululand Chamber of Commerce and Industry.<\/p>\n<p>She was also among the top 20 candidates in the Agri-Tech and Aqua-Tech Acceleration Programme led by the United Nations Development Programme, which aims to strengthen innovation in sustainable agriculture.<\/p>\n<p>Through that program, Nyawo is developing a project she says could advance environmentally responsible farming. \u201cI am working on building my own drone that will be sustainable, using bio-fertiliser and pesticides in order to contribute to the sustainability of our environment and food security,\u201d she said, adding that the project is designed to align with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals on sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Richards #Bay #Entrepreneur #Builds #AgriTech #Drone #Company #Focused #Sustainable #Farming<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 31-year-old entrepreneur from Richards Bay is carving out a niche in South Africa\u2019s growing agricultural technology sector through a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,11],"tags":[10477,10142,3433,431,4971,10229,2069,5700,7691,3527],"class_list":["post-56272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi","category-world","tag-agritech","tag-bay","tag-builds","tag-company","tag-drone","tag-entrepreneur","tag-farming","tag-focused","tag-richards","tag-sustainable"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56274,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56272\/revisions\/56274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}