Farmers to assist each other to improve agricultural standards in the country

Farmers should share their knowledge and assist each other in order to improve the agricultural standards in the country. They should also be the ones who effect changes in society.

These were the words of advice from Dr Mirjam Ros-Tonen from the University of Amsterdam. She was one of the guest speakers during an agricultural day for avocado and macadamia farmers, held at Muofhe Graceland Lodge in Thohoyandou last week Tuesday.

About 70 local farmers attended the second annual platform meeting under the theme: “Facilitating innovation for avocado and macadamia farmers: What role for change makers?”.

Delegates from the Agricultural Research Council, University of Limpopo, and the University of Amsterdam were also present at the event. The event formed part of the international research and development programme under the theme “Inclusive partnerships and innovation platforms amongst smallholders in tree crop systems in Ghana and South Africa”. It focuses in particular on peer-to-peer learning and the role of local change makers who share agricultural knowledge with farmers and help farmers to gain access to markets.

Dr Mirjam Ros-Tonen said that the local farmers should strengthen their partnership and strive to work together to improve the agricultural standard in the country. She said that the farmers should practise food security and sustainable landscapes and she emphasised the importance of brokering. “Farmers should have the knowledge to access markets and resources. They should also be change makers in their communities,” she said.

Rosemary du Preez from the Agricultural Research Council spoke about “The lead farmer approach: lessons from ARC’s high-value crop programme”. Her research outlined that communal farming is not successful and household farming was a better option. She said that farmers should have a sound agricultural production plan. “They should practice primary (household farming) and secondary (high crop value) agriculture,” she said.

Her research also outlined that many farmers face challenges such as access to formal markets and lack of water. “Water has become a challenge to many farmers due to drought, and many farmers also lack the knowledge to access the formal markets which made them to be less productive,” she said.

One of the emerging farmers in Venda, Mr John Mudau from Tshituame Farming Enterprise, said that many farmers were in need of the knowledge to be more productive. He further said that “I was trained a year ago to be a farmer and now I am a successful farmer. I wish I was trained four years ago.”

Mudau also encouraged the farmers to go to the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and learn more about farming. “The government should also assist the emerging farmers with funding,” he added.

Suzan Ravele, an emerging macadamia farmer, said that she was dedicated to being a macadamia farmer. She congratulated SEDA for helping her to be a successful farmer. “SEDA helped me a lot and is continuing to help me,” she said.

Presentations given during the meeting can be found on their site: https://inclusivevcc.wordpress.com/publications/presentations/

Date:10 September 2016

By: Mbulaheni Ridovhona

The 22-year-old Mbulaheni (Gary) Ridovhona has been passionate about journalism to the extent that he would buy himself a copy of weekly Univen students' newsletter, Our Voice. After reading, he would write stories about his rural village, Mamvuka, and submit them to the very newsletter for publication. His deep-rooted love for words and writing saw him register for a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies at the University of Venda, and joined the Limpopo Mirror team in February 2016 as a journalism intern.

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