An agricultural project, run by a group of hearing impaired people, is creating jobs for the deaf in Randfontein on the West Rand.

The Voice Out Deaf Cooperative is one of the five cooperatives found on the Rand West City Local Municipality's Agri-park, which is one of the facilities that have been in full operation for over two years.

Matebogo Victoria, a member of the cooperative, said the aim of the organisation is to create jobs and employment opportunities for the deaf community.

She said the objective of the project is in line with government's agricultural policy of increasing food production and attaining sustainable food security and poverty reduction.

So far, the cooperative has managed to create about seven jobs.

It produces tomatoes, green pepper, lettuce and spinach.

"The popular vegetables will become available throughout the year at affordable prices," she said.

Victoria said there were many advantages of using the state-of-the-art agricultural facility to grow vegetables. This includes irrigation facilities, effective time for production, modern machinery such as tractors that are used in farming to make ploughing and harvesting faster, and to yield high-quality crops.

The cooperative sells its products to the local fruit and veg market, street vendors and local residents.

Victoria said when the cooperative started two years ago, it was difficult to access the market.

"Access to market is no longer a problem. Instead, we have more market than what we produce," she said.

However, she acknowledged that it is generally difficult for hearing impairment people to do business as many customers struggle to communicate with them.

"Compared to people with no hearing defect, the deaf face challenges in finding jobs as well," she said.

The cooperative plans to improve the quality of food produced in South Africa in future and to offer horticultural training for farmers on the Rand West.

This story first appeared in the Government Communication and Information System's newsletter Vuk'uzenzele