Africa-Press – Eswatini. Nomsa Mngometulu (58) and Mathanda Sihondze (31) are this year’s winners of the Woman Farmer of the Year competition.
Mngometulu is the main competition winner, while Sikhondze emerged victorious in the youth category.
This was announced during this year’s Woman Farmer of the Year prize presentation ceremony held at Riders Ranch yesterday.
The event was graced by Minister of Agriculture Jabulani Mabuza, Principal Secretary (PS) Sydney Simelane, Manzini Regional Administrator Chief Gija as well as Nedbank Head of Strategy and Business Transformation Mcebo Shabangu, who represented the CEO Fikile Nkosi.
Mngometulu beat his namesake Nomsa Dvuba and Nomsa Dlamini, who came second and third, respectively to emerge as this year’s winner after three previous attempts. “I am speechless because I came close in previous instances but failed to claim the crown,” she said, stating that she worked hard to improve her farming in the past year.
“I took it upon myself to learn from previous winners and apply all those lessons. I visited their farms, asked questions, and it clearly worked wonders for me as I am the winner today,” she said.
Mngometulu, who is from Lomahasha walked away with prizes worth E125 830, while second-placed Dvuba from the same area got prizes worth E38 150, while third-placed Dlamini from Pigg’s Peak received E19 400 worth of prizes.
Meanwhile, the champion in the youth category, who is also an agriculture teacher at Manzini Central High School walked away with prizes worth E57 000.
“This was my third time joining the competition. I am very happy to finally win it because I have always been passionate about agriculture from a tender age and believe it can play a huge role in changing our country’s fortunes around,” she added.
When quizzed on what she improved on from the precious edition, she pointed out bookkeeping.
“You cannot be a commercial farmer if you do not keep records of each and every financial transaction, and I think improving on that aspect is what gave me the edge this year,” she explained.
She also encouraged more youngsters to venture into agriculture, especially with the high unemployment rate in the country.
“Our future is in our hands, and as the youth, it is sad that we are jobless with our degrees. This is why I hope my story and success inspires more young people to get into this field because it has endless possibilities,” she said.
Her words resonated with sentiments shared by the Woman Farmer Foundation founder Sonia Paiva, who decried the lack of participation in the youth category. “Out of the 170 entries we received, only 41 were from young people, and that is very disappointing considering the alarming number of unemployed young people in the country,” said Paiva.
“Amongst my staff, the team that runs this initiative I am the oldest, and that’s by design. This is why I get very disappointed when we fail to attract young people when we have tried to even get people who they can relate to and work with on a daily basis,” she explained.
Paiva also appreciated all the sponsors who supported the initiative even in the midst of the unfavourable economic climate.
“We really struggled to get the much-needed sponsors this year, and understandably so because most companies are struggling financially, so we would like to express our utmost gratitude to the sponsors, who eventually came through for us, because without them, none of this would be possible,” she stated.
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