• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Lifestyle
Future farmers put internships on hold

Future Farmers: Global internships on ice due to Covid

1st Feb 2021
What to look for when formulating dairy cow rations

What to look for when formulating dairy cow rations

1st Jul 2022
Leave your comfort zone and make money, says foodie

Leave your comfort zone and start hustling, says foodie

1st Jul 2022
Recipe: Make Makile’s crispy chicken wings

Recipe: Make Makile’s crispy chicken wings

1st Jul 2022
Experts have warned farmers to prepare for another steep fuel price increase this month. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Caught in a price spiral: Farmers brace for major losses

1st Jul 2022
Parts of the Western Cape, such as the Central Karoo, are still experiencing drought. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Drought-burdened farmers receive R48m. in fodder

1st Jul 2022
Through his company, Iboyana agri farming, Mhlengi Ngcobo is changing the lives of youth and women in his community. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Self-taught farmer doing his bit for the greater good

30th Jun 2022
Research has revealed that less than three in 10 farmers in the upper parts of Africa use technology. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Technology not a priority for Africa’s smallholder farmers

30th Jun 2022
The Mamahlola Communal Property Association was among the first to be established in 2000, but due to underinvestment, their land soon turned into a symbol of government’s land restoration failure. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

The poverty-fighting tool that’s not fighting poverty

30th Jun 2022
Langeberg & Ashton Foods provides employment for around 250 permanent and 4 300 seasonal staff. Photo: Supplied

ICYMI: Search for fruit factory buyer continues

30th Jun 2022
Michele Carelse, founder, and CEO of Feelgood Health, Aquaponics horticulturalist, PJ Phiri Gwengo, Dr Didi Claassen, Afrivets executive for technical and marketing support, and Sibusiso Xaba, co-founder and CEO of Africa Cannabis Advisory Group. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Podcast: Learn the basics of growing microgreens

29th Jun 2022
John Deere Launches Africa’s Largest Capacity Combine. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Get inside Africa’s largest combine harvester

30th Jun 2022
Food scraps and yard waste together currently make up more than 30% of what we throw away, and could be composted instead. Babalwa Mpayipheli uses the technique of bokashi composting. Photo: Supplird/Health For Mzansi

How to make compost with kitchen scraps

29th Jun 2022
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
11 GLOBAL MEDIA AWARDS
Sat, Jul 2, 2022
Food For Mzansi
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
    • All
    • AgriCareers
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Farmers
    • Groundbreakers
    • Innovators
    • Inspiration
    • It Takes a Village
    • Mentors
    • Movers and Shakers
    • Partnerships
    Through his company, Iboyana agri farming, Mhlengi Ngcobo is changing the lives of youth and women in his community. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Self-taught farmer doing his bit for the greater good

    Reggie Kambule from Villiers in the Free State runs a 185 hectare farm where he breeds livestock and cultivates maize. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Engineer-turned farmer takes pride in good results

    Agripreneur 101: Sweet success for jam producer

    Agripreneur 101: Sweet success for jam producer

    Real Housewife turns passion for wine into a business

    Real Housewife turns passion for wine into a business

    David Mthombeni is building an agriculture empire for his family.Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Farmer gets his hands dirty while building family empire

    Gauteng farmers give youth a leg-up in agriculture

    Women in farming give youth a leg up in agriculture

    Watch out, these young farmers are on fire!

    Watch out, these young farmers are on fire!

    Unati Speirs has vast experience in agri-business strategy and business funding and was recently appointed as a new board director for Hortgro. Photos: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Youngest Hortgro hotshot takes transformation to heart

    Prof Kennedy Mnisi a dedicated young man who wants to help livestock farmers with animal health education to prevent diseases. Picture. Supplied/ Food For Mzansi.

    Animal scientist works hard to earn top dog status

  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
No Result
View All Result
Food For Mzansi

Future Farmers: Global internships on ice due to Covid

by Dona Van Eeden
1st Feb 2021
in COVID-19, Farmer's Inside Track
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
Future farmers put internships on hold

Future Farmers Foundation is a small, dedicated foundation that provides platforms from which young men and women in agriculture and farming in general can become successful commercial farm managers or farmers in their own right. Photo's: Supplied

The future of a proudly South African initiative to give young farmers international experience, hangs in the balance due to travel restrictions in the wake of the protracted Covid-19 pandemic.

The Future Farmers Foundation, an inspirational non-profit that has given beginner farmers practical experience across the globe, have put their international internships on ice indefinitely over Covid-19. 

This follows various countries instituting new international travel bans regarding travel to and from South Africa. Starting this weekend, the US has imposed a ban on most non-American citizens entering their country if they have recently been in South Africa. This is an attempt to contain the spread of a new variant of Covid-19.

South African travelers have already been banned from entering several other countries, including Vietnam, Dubai, the UK, and Israel, since the 501Y.V2 variant was identified in December 2020.

ADVERTISEMENT

Many countries, including South Africa, have changed their travel warnings to restrict travel during this time.

This severely affected the ongoing operations of the Future Farmers Foundation that sends young farmers with potential overseas for internships. These internships are to give new farmers to global work experience.

Judy Stuart, founder of Future Farmers Foundation
Judy Stuart, founder of Future Farmers Foundation. Photo: Supplied

According to Judy Stuart, founder of Future Farmers Foundation, there is already a major backlog of applicants waiting to be interviewed. They will not be taking in more applications until this backlog has been reduced substantially. 

“We have no way of knowing how long this will take, so please bear with us and we will let you know once we are able to start interviewing again,” says Stuart. 

Food for Mzansi sat down with Stuart for a Skype call to see what potential internship candidates should do during this interim in order to prepare for their future. 

Dona van Eeden: With the suspension of international internships due to Covid-19, will you be providing more South African training internships? 

Judy Stuart: We try to get Future Farmers on farms in South Africa first. They must have at least two years’ experience here before we can help them with internships. But these have also been impacted by Covid-19, as nobody is interested in taking on new staff in these times. 

We have still been sending applicants overseas recently, after the worst of the lockdown lifted. We sent our last overseas candidate to a farm in Arizona last week, which is quite remote. But now the USA has closed its borders to us due to the South African Covid-19 variant. This won’t be permanent, though, so we are building and maintaining our connections with farmers overseas.  

The internships overseas are well worth waiting for, so don’t give up hope. Covid won’t last forever. 

How are you keeping in touch with the current and prospective interns during this time? 

Since we cannot place any of our applicants at this moment, we are busy working on developing online workshops for them to do during lockdown. These workshops will be available to any young people, not just future farmers.

ADVERTISEMENT

They will address the common issues we see that young people struggle with when looking for a job or entering the workplace for the first time. 

These workshops will cover the very basics of how to apply to a job when sending an email, how to write a CV and a cover letter, the do’s and don’ts of interviews, as well as conducting yourself in the workplace.

I have seen very strong, passionate candidates with degrees who struggle to get a job because these basics have never been taught to them. So, that’s what we are working on now from home.  

If we can help someone to get a job then we are doing something valuable. We are also preparing as much as possible for when we can start sending out interns again. 

What tips do you have for future farmers that are not able to apply for the internships at this time?  

Be patient, even though it feels like this situation is going on forever. If you have a job, do it to the best of your ability. Ask questions to learn from your employers.  

Your main advantage if you want to get an international internship is to have a strong recommendation letter, so make sure you use this time to work hard and impress your employer so that they will write a good recommendation letter for you.  

Work towards the future and focus on the career you want. The better you are today, the better you will be in your future career. 

ALSO READ: Future Farmers opens international doors

Tags: Agri-Careersfarming tipsFuture FarmersFuture Farmers FoundationInternational internshipsJudy StuartYoung Farmer
Previous Post

Avocados: Armed thieves target ‘green gold’

Next Post

Young farmers to benefit from $25 billion boost

Dona Van Eeden

Dona Van Eeden

Dona van Eeden is a budding writer and journalist, starting her career as an intern at Food for Mzansi. Furnished with a deep love and understanding of environmental systems and sustainable development, she aims to make the world a better place however she can. In her free time you can find her with her nose in a book or wandering on a mountain, looking at the world through her camera's viewfinder.

Related Posts

Farmer 101: Level up with these farming trends

Farmer 101: Level up with these farming trends

by Terri-Ann Brouwers
28th Jan 2022
0

Mushrooms, blueberries, kiwis and other high-value crops are the way to go, advised experts in this #GatherToGrow interactive session. That...

With an agriculture degree behind her name, Danelene Ruiters now inspires the children of farmworkers in Wellington in the Western Cape. Photo: Supplied/Ashley Manuel

Rural and proud: A muse for farmworkers’ children

by Tiisetso Manoko
21st Jan 2022
0

Not too long ago, Danelene Ruiters was one of the farmworkers’ children who did not see a future in agriculture....

How to set up a farm: This week's podcast is about setting up a farm using the scales of permanence, and other topics experts discuss.

Podcast: How to set up a small farm for success

by Nicole Ludolph
4th Oct 2021
0

Microbiologist and KwaZulu-Natal farmer Morgan Brand used the scale of permanence as a guide to set up his farm. He...

how to set up a farm

9 tips to set up your very own farm in Mzansi

by Dona Van Eeden
28th Sep 2021
0

Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up your very own farm for success. Each farm is unique and has to...

Next Post
Youth Month: The sustainable future of the agriculture sector is in the hands of the young farmers, argues Aron Kole, MD of FarmSol. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Young farmers to benefit from $25 billion boost

Experts have warned farmers to prepare for another steep fuel price increase this month. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
News

Caught in a price spiral: Farmers brace for major losses

by Tiisetso Manoko
1st Jul 2022
0

Farmers are bracing themselves for yet another steep fuel price increase in July, with data showing that consumers could face...

Read more
Parts of the Western Cape, such as the Central Karoo, are still experiencing drought. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Drought-burdened farmers receive R48m. in fodder

1st Jul 2022
Through his company, Iboyana agri farming, Mhlengi Ngcobo is changing the lives of youth and women in his community. Photo:Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Self-taught farmer doing his bit for the greater good

30th Jun 2022
Research has revealed that less than three in 10 farmers in the upper parts of Africa use technology. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Technology not a priority for Africa’s smallholder farmers

30th Jun 2022
The Mamahlola Communal Property Association was among the first to be established in 2000, but due to underinvestment, their land soon turned into a symbol of government’s land restoration failure. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

The poverty-fighting tool that’s not fighting poverty

30th Jun 2022

Agripreneur 101: Sweet success for jam producer

Fresh produce markets ‘at tipping point’

Rural Safety Summit ‘will fail without action plan’

SAAGA on a mission to speak for exploitable graduates

Tiny nanotech will have a huge impact on agriculture

ICYMI: Historic kickstart for Engcobo livestock economy

THE NEW FACE OF SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE

With 11 global awards in the first three years of its existence, Food For Mzansi is much more than an agriculture publication. It is a movement, unashamedly saluting the unsung heroes of South African agriculture. We believe in the power of agriculture to promote nation building and social cohesion by telling stories that are often overlooked by broader society.

What to look for when formulating dairy cow rations

Leave your comfort zone and start hustling, says foodie

Recipe: Make Makile’s crispy chicken wings

Caught in a price spiral: Farmers brace for major losses

Drought-burdened farmers receive R48m. in fodder

Self-taught farmer doing his bit for the greater good

  • Our Story
  • Contact Us
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright

Contact us
Office: +27 21 879 1824
WhatsApp line: +27 81 889 9032
Marketing: +27 71 147 0388
News: info@foodformzansi.co.za
Advertising: sales@foodformzansi.co.za

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought

Copyright © 2021 Food for Mzansi

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Go to mobile version