By: Lindani Nkwanyana
As a boy growing up in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Lindani Nkwanyana dreamed of flying airplanes. “I wanted to be a pilot,” he recalls. “I thought that was the way to soar.”
But his career would take off in a very different way.
In 2005, while waiting to hear from flight schools, Lindani discovered a one-year poultry learnership at the KwaZulu Natal Poultry Institute (KZNPI). Out of 600 applicants, he was one of the few selected. “At home, I only knew indigenous chickens,” he says. “The KZNPI course opened my eyes to genetics, nutrition, and commercial production. We spent half our days in class and half on the Institute’s mini farm. KZNPI was very well connected and regularly brought in the best industry experts as instructors,” he adds.
A few months later, his dream letter arrived: he’d been accepted into an overseas pilot training program. But by then, his heart had shifted. “I was hooked on poultry. I couldn’t walk away.”
The course changed his life. Alongside 30 learners, Lindani gained not just technical skills, but life skills and confidence. He earned certificates in firefighting, first aid, and health and safety. He also proudly got his driver’s license. “It was my first time behind a steering wheel!” he laughs, looking back.
At the course’s 10-month mark, top poultry companies came scouting for interns for the final two months of full-time practical immersion. Lindani joined Eggbert Eggs Farm in Blood River. “It was a lot of work, but I was well prepared,” he says. “When my supervisor went on leave, I was left in charge for two weeks. That trust meant everything.”
From there, Lindani’s career took flight. He became a site supervisor at Eggbert Eggs’ Rooines Farm in Johannesburg, later a farm manager, then a poultry technician for a feed company, and most recently, a manager of large-scale broiler contract farmers. Along the way, he earned a tertiary qualification in Business Management, generously sponsored by an employer. In 2016, he came full circle, joining the KZNPI Board of Directors.
Lindani remains close with his fellow course alumni. “KZNPI gave us a foundation,” he says. “Some of us became managers; others started our own commercial farms or became extension officers.”
He is quick to credit those who make KZNPI a training gem. “We are blessed to have the KZNPI management team. They are passionate about the Institute and committed to its mission. And the World Poultry Foundation has been an incredible supporter over the years.”
Looking back on his journey, and that of his classmates, Lindani reflects, “KZNPI gave us a career, a path to follow, a door to walk through.”
Although he never became a pilot, Lindani still soared, just closer to the ground.
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