Future leader Buhle Ngindi is one of the beneficiaries of the Hortgro Bursary Programme, which aims to support and nurture the next generation of industry leaders and researchers. She shares her story as one of the talented and ambitious students pursuing a career relevant to the deciduous fruit industry.
Ngindi was born in Jamestown in the Eastern Cape. She matriculated at Plumstead High in Cape Town whereafter she moved on to Stellenbosch University.
She quickly moved through the ranks until she completed her master’s on comparative studies of apple rootstock cum laude with a well-deserved Hortgro prestige bursary.
“Part of the deal with Hortgro is to do a PhD which I really want to do, yes, but not now. I need to get in the field first to see what awakens my interest.
“I eventually want to operate as a technical advisor, helping farmers with information and knowledge on how to improve their farming,” she explains.
This realisation all started at university, going on field trips where there would be a technical advisor and the farmer.
“I don’t see myself as the farmer. I like teaching and I like working with people and most importantly, I have a love for science. I like understanding the biology of trees and can see myself helping the farmer with that knowledge.”
Yet, she believes that it is good to have hopes and dreams but also to be open to change and that it is not bad if you change your mind. As long as your mind is open. So who knows, maybe she might become a farmer.
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Bridging practical experience and academic knowledge
Patience is a virtue with her, an amazing plus for someone young and eager to make a difference. “There are many ways to get to the ultimate goal. I am still young and have many things to learn.”
She reckons she might even go full circle and end up back at university, but this time as a lecturer or in research. This is only after a reasonable time in the field, bringing the practical side of farming into close contact with the academic side of the university.
At present, she works as a project coordinator at Hortgro. “I am very privileged in this sense because it allows me to get to different farms, be exposed to different perspectives and probably the most crucial part is growing my network with mentors that help to teach and guide me. I want to know more and just more.”
If you are in the deciduous fruit business, remember the name Buhle Ngindi. You’ll hear it again.
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