This is Mzansi’s first bustling festive season without any Covid restrictions. But if you’re looking to snatch some quiet time amid the holiday rush, top agriculturalists in the country recommend you do it with these must-read books.
The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times
Michelle Obama
This holiday, Barbra Muzata, brand and communications leader for Corteva Agriscience: Africa Middle East, plans to read The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama.
Sharing her reasons for choosing this book, Muzata says that as a leader her motivation is to make a difference by helping others to grow and thrive.
“At the same time, the world is growing more complex, the rules of the leadership game are changing everyday and the question I ask myself is, ‘How do I make a difference through leading, moving and influencing people around me?’”
Furthermore, she believes that we all are on the receiving end of permanent crises: Covid-19, food insecurity, climate change, war in Africa and Ukraine, and natural disasters.
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“Everybody is searching for hope and skills to deal with these challenging times and issues… This world continues to evolve and so should I. We live at a time when people are increasingly demanding more from leaders.”
Overcoming uncertain times requires an entirely different approach, states Muzata, adding that she believes this book has some tools that we can leverage.
“I am expecting this book not only to give me insights on how to endure and overcome during these difficult times, but to also equip me with the skills to navigate through change, lead, motivate myself and others.”
Narrative Economics
Robert Shiller
Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and a published author, says a good book to snuggle up with is Narrative Economics by Robert Shiller.
“It’s an important book which helps us understand how stories or narratives shape the economic and political events in our world. I would recommend this for a December reading list,” says Sihlobo.
The author also gives a ground-breaking account of why financial panics can spread like epidemic viruses.
In this book, the Nobel Prize–winning economist and New York Times bestselling author offers a new way to think about the economy and economic change. Using a rich array of historical examples and data, Shiller argues that studying popular stories that affect individual and collective economic behaviour – what he calls “narrative economics” – has the potential to vastly improve our ability to predict, prepare for, and lessen the damage of financial crises, recessions, depressions, and other major economic events.
Some experts says it may be Shiller’s most important book to date.
A Sprat to Catch a Mackerel: Key principles to build your business
Raymond Ackerman
Farmer and agricultural researcher Dr Qinisani Qwabe loves many books. So, asking him to choose a favourite to read while on holiday, is a bit like mission impossible.
“But I’ll go with In A Sprat to Catch a Mackerel: Key principles to build your business, which I unfortunately just had to purchase for the second time yesterday.
“This book is by Raymond Ackerman, a shrewd businessman and father of Pick ‘n Pay. It’s a light read, I highly recommend it!”
The book is rooted in the key principles of building a successful business. In this book, Ackerman shares the basic tenets behind his business philosophy – timeless principles that have guided him through some of South Africa’s most turbulent times.
When Ackerman was fired from his job in 1966, he persuaded a group of friends to loan him the money to buy three small Pick ‘n Pay stores, which at the time employed a total of 175 people.
On his retirement, 44 years later, he had changed the face of southern African retailing, growing his company to encompass 792 stores in eight countries, employing more than 60 000 people, and generating an annual turnover of around R60 billion.
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
Phil Knight
For Zabion de Wee, livestock farmer and John Deere’s business development manager, Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike is a real page-turner that’s impossible to put down.
“This book by Phil Knight is a must-read. I actually recommended it to my brother and begged him to read it. This is the last book I read and my next one will be the book of Whitey Basson, The Rise and Rule of the Shoprite King.”
In this instant and tenacious New York Times bestseller, the Nike founder and board chairman offers a rare and revealing look at the notoriously media-shy man behind the swoosh.
Knight recalls the relationships that formed the heart and soul of Nike. Relationships that not created a brand, but a culture that changed everything.
Even Bill Gates loves it and named Shoe Dog one of his five favourite books of 2016.
For the Love of the Land
Ivor Price and Kobus Louwrens
#TeamFoodForMzansi recommends For the Love of the Land by Ivor Price and Kobus Louwrens.
Set against the raging land debate, For the Love of the Land introduces South Africans to the unsung heroes of the agricultural industry in 32 essays.
A diverse crop of farmers from across the country share heart-warming stories, at times, surviving generational tragedies that plague our past.
The book offers a look into the realistic, complex stories of heritage and land. Some have survived expropriation and forced labour, but every farmer featured remains bound by a passion for the land here on the southern tip of Africa.
ALSO READ: Top 15 farmer stories that will inspire you
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