A YOUNG, DEDICATED FARMER
By: Thulisiwe Zulu
Twitter: @ZuluThulisiwe
Email: zuluminenhle16@gmail.com
It is very courageous to see young people venturing into big businesses. 29-year-old Sihle Maseko is a farmer from Burnshill location, Keiskammahoek. Sihle has a diploma in Agricultural Management, which he obtained in 2019 at Nelson Mandela University, George Campus.
He started farming in 2020, helping his uncle on his 2 hectares then went solo in 2021. Now he is farming on a 10- hectare plot, growing green mealies and 45 000 cabbages, staggered at 15k monthly interval even after completing his studies, Sihle applied for jobs countless times in both the government and private sectors, and he got rejected so many times.
It was a stressful time for him but then he remembered that there is enough land at home [the challenge was startup capital afford an irrigation system. Sihle had no background in farming because he never had any interest in being a primary producer, he only wanted to be a forensic pathologist. He tried to raise funds and started on 1 ha with green mealies, then grew from there.
Sihle did tax’s and borrowed money from banks with no luck, but he made sure that he starts. He is currently selling about 10-15 thousand cabbages every month since July 2020 to both formal and informal markets. There are lot of motivation people get to continue doing their business which keeps them going each and every day.
“Due to rejection and no employment in 2020 June, I started farming with my uncle on his land then in August 2021 I parted ways and went solo. I started on 1 hector with green mealies and then grew from there. I am now growing my vegetables on 15 hector of land which 9 hector out of 15 hectares, I am leasing from my neighbouring fields which hasn’t been utilised for years.
“Due to rejection and no employment in 2020 June, I started farming with my uncle on his land then in August 2021 I parted ways and went solo on my family which is 6 hectares. I started on 1 hectare with green mealies and then I grew from there. I am now growing my vegetables on 15 hector of land which 9 ha out of 15 hectares, I am leasing from my neighbouring fields which hasn’t been utilised for years.
Click on the video to watch Sihle's farming.
I have a lease agreement with these families of 10 years, and there is a high chance of getting more” said Sihle. Feeling inspired in your day-to-day life can play a key role in unlocking creativity, increasing productivity, and boosting happiness. “Besides me it’s the man in the mirror” Sihle explained.
Listen to the audio link below:
https://on.soundcloud.com/
People who regularly feel inspired at home tend to be more engaged, more confident, and more motivated to solve problems and create new things. By doing that you are giving others hope that everything is possible, especially young people who are hopeless out there. Wake up black child you can anything you want especially if you believe in yourself.
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