Agriculture is one of hardest sectors to work in today. At the first-ever Farmer’s Inside Track (FIT) Summit that took place at the Graham and Rhona Beck Skills Centre this week, experts came together to share hard truths and messages of hope.
Seasoned farmers, agriculturalists and industry experts convened in Robertson in the Western Cape to share their expertise in a series of masterclasses, equipping and empowering as many people as possible. After all, if you want to move forward in your farming journey, partnership is the key to rise and scale.
Finding purpose and inspiration
Building a business is not just about finding efficient ways to earn profit, said PeopleFlow co-founder Paul Kim. He took centre stage on day two of the FIT Summit.
Putting purpose at the core of your strategy could be a game changer, he said. Kim presented a masterclass on successful business built on purpose.
“We kind of shifted away from this idea that the purpose of business is to only generate profit and shareholder maximisation, which economists in the 1970s put forward as their main thing businesses should do. As we see in the world, we are starting to realise that that is insufficient,” he explained.
“What is critical for business, yes it needs profit, but it also needs purpose because inevitably that is the direction you are pointing your business at.”
“Without purpose, it becomes incredibly difficult to make long-term good decisions. What do you say no to and what do you say yes to? And as far as money goes, what do you invest in? What do you close down and move on from? All of that becomes almost impossible unless you have a clear purpose,” he said.
No keeping a farmer down
During a panel discussion on young farmers, award-winning Piketburg farmer Whernit Dirks admitted that it is no easy task to be a farmer. The summit was a safe space for farmers to share concerns and solutions to their struggles.
“If you have passion and love for what you do, you just do it. It is a long walk to freedom to be a young farmer.
“I can tell you a lot of stories about what happened to me in 2019. I literally went bankrupt in 2019 because of the droughts and business partners which made it difficult. But I had to stand up and keep moving because no one is going to keep me behind,” he said.
“You just must follow your passion, you get up, keep on fighting, don’t wait for someone to come to you.”
Support is available
Meanwhile, the head of Socio-Economic Development (SED) for the Kagiso Trust shared insight into the Tyla Impact Fund in his masterclass on day two. Tebogo Mokgoadi explained that the Kagiso Trust is an organisation focused on commercialising farmers.
The Tyla Impact Fund is veered toward creating sustainable farmers and entrepreneurs.
“The reason why they went with the impact fund of things is that, although we want to drive commercial principals in our entrepreneurs, we also want to conscientise them about the areas in which they are involved. They should be conscious about the business where they are.”
ALSO READ: FIT Summit: ‘Break stigmas, barriers in farming’
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