• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Lifestyle
“I took a leap of faith when I left my job (as a librarian) because I didn’t have land and I didn’t have enough money, but I knew it was something I had to do. I was passionate about farming,” says Free State farmer Mahadi Mopeli. Photo: WYRD Films

Meet the librarian who’s now mastering the art of farming

16th November 2020
This drone is collecting data which farmers can then access on the yield management platform. Photo: Supplied/Aerobotics

How the Internet of Things is transforming agri

13th August 2022
His life took a turn for the worst when he ended up in jail for dealing in drugs, but Thembinkosi Matika turned his life around and now helps others through his Legacy Farming Project. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Drug dealer turned farmer ploughs back

12th August 2022
ADVERTISEMENT
Beat the winter blues with yummy butter chicken

Beat the winter blues with yummy butter chicken

12th August 2022
Households in South Africa could be in for some respite in the coming months on food prices. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Food may soon be cheaper. What’s the catch?

12th August 2022
Archive photo. Western Cape agri MEC Ivan Meyer highlighted small towns' dependence on agriculture during a recent provincial summit with municipal leaders. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

ICYMI: MEC lines up municipal support for farmers

12th August 2022
Christo Van der Rheede is the executive director of Agri SA. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Former music teacher leads agri’s greatest symphony

12th August 2022
Bumper harvest for Mzansi’s olive growers

Bumper harvest for Mzansi’s olive growers

11th August 2022
Thanks to Netafim’s innovative solutions, drip irrigation is within reach of small-scale farmers. Photo: Supplied

Yes, precision irrigation is possible on a budget

11th August 2022
There's been a major breakthrough with South African citrus containers that have been contained at European ports. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Relief! Govt convinces EU to save SA citrus

11th August 2022
Willem Booise (left) is a trustee and has won the industry’s Specialist Agricultural Worker of the Year award in 2018. Photo: Supplied/Hortgro

Fruit farm shows there’s power in transformation

11th August 2022
Many people love avocados, but did you know that the introduction of just one of these fruits per day can improve the overall quality of your diet? Photo: Pixabay

An avocado a day can keep the doctor away

10th August 2022
Davidzo Chizhengeni, animal scientist, founder of KvD livestock, Ika Cronje, farmer and participant in the Corteva Women Agripreneur 2022 programme, Vuyokazi Makapela, a Director at Afrivet, and permaculture farmer, Stephanie Mullins. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Podcast: Prevent rabies with vaccination

10th August 2022
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
11 GLOBAL MEDIA AWARDS
Saturday, August 13, 2022
Food For Mzansi
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
    • All
    • AgriCareers
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Farmers
    • Groundbreakers
    • Innovators
    • Inspiration
    • It Takes a Village
    • Mentors
    • Movers and Shakers
    • Partnerships
    This drone is collecting data which farmers can then access on the yield management platform. Photo: Supplied/Aerobotics

    How the Internet of Things is transforming agri

    His life took a turn for the worst when he ended up in jail for dealing in drugs, but Thembinkosi Matika turned his life around and now helps others through his Legacy Farming Project. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Drug dealer turned farmer ploughs back

    Christo Van der Rheede is the executive director of Agri SA. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Former music teacher leads agri’s greatest symphony

    Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

    Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

    Claire and Martin Joubert have sacrificed and struggled to become top breeders of Ankole cattle in South Africa. But giving up was never an option, because they wanted to offer only the very best Ankole genetics in the country. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Farming couple lives and breathes Ankole cattle

    Tackling climate change, one tree at a time

    Agricareers: Veterinary science not for the timid

    Agricareers: Veterinary science not for the timid

    Once struggling farm now a family heirloom

    This drone is collecting data which farmers can then access on the yield management platform. Photo: Supplied/Aerobotics

    Optimal yields now at farmers’ finger tips

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

Meet the librarian who’s now mastering the art of farming

by Sinesipho Tom
16th November 2020
in Inspiration
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
“I took a leap of faith when I left my job (as a librarian) because I didn’t have land and I didn’t have enough money, but I knew it was something I had to do. I was passionate about farming,” says Free State farmer Mahadi Mopeli. Photo: WYRD Films

“I took a leap of faith when I left my job (as a librarian) because I didn’t have land and I didn’t have enough money, but I knew it was something I had to do. I was passionate about farming,” says Free State farmer Mahadi Mopeli. Photo: WYRD Films

As a farmer in the Free State town of Warden, Mahadi Mopeli’s life is worlds apart from her earlier days as a librarian. She no longer spends her days sorting books although, admittedly, there are many similarities between being a librarian and a farmer.

Both careers attract meek and tidy souls. Mopeli is big on structure and order too, and with her passion for detail she has been flourishing as a crop and livestock farmer. In fact, you’ll never say that she only started farming full-time in 2016.

“I took a leap of faith when I left my job (as a librarian) because I didn’t have land and I didn’t have enough money, but I knew it was something I had to do. I was passionate about farming,” she says.

ADVERTISEMENT

READ MORE: ‘Virtuous mother’ dedicates her life to feeding the nation

Even as a librarian, she has always been farming on the side. It is 16 years now, and she also comes from a lineage of farmers on both sides of the family. “I was raised in a family of farmers. My grandfather and my grandmother, both from my mother’s side and father’s side, were cattle and crop farmers. I am also a cattle and crop farmer. I farm with goats and I have cattle and I am also a crop farmer.”

Television host Ivor Price, Ben Greyling, Ingrid van der Walt from WYRD Films and Mahadi Mopeli. Photo: Supplied
Television host Ivor Price, Ben Greyling, Ingrid van der Walt from WYRD Films and Mahadi Mopeli. Photo: Supplied

As a child, Mopeli used to follow her parents around on their farm and soaked up all the secrets, skills and love for the land. “There were a lot of flowers and vegetables on my parents’ farm. I wanted to be involved in everything and anything that involved planting. I was going up and down from a tender age.”

.”I have a mentor in the Greyling family. The Greylings really inspired me a lot. They are like my family.” – MAHADI MOPELI

Even at her home in Warden – 56km north of Harrismith – she still grows vegetables, even though she owns a 513-hectare farm called Quarriehoek. After leaving her job as a librarian she went from office to office trying to find a piece of land to farm on.

“(At the time( I did not even have a farm. I had to lease from other farmers, but I tried until the government gave me my own farm in 2019,” says Mopeli. And the journey to full-time farming certainly hasn’t been easy.

She tells Food For Mzansi, “Farming is very expensive. To get seeds will cost you a fortune and mechanisation is expensive. Now you need fertilisers, and you still have to harvest, so everything about farming needs money. Even the people that come and help you cost money.”

Being a woman in agriculture

Farming alone is not the only challenge she faces. Being a 62-year-old women in agriculture is another ball-game. “I feel that men in agriculture still undermine women. Even when you raise up your hand, they will just be sarcastic to you and put you down. But if you like something, just go for it. Don’t look behind you. Always push forward.”

She mastered the art of patience in her days as a librarian, and as a farmer she has also learnt to depend on God when faced with adversity.

“I have learnt that patience is the best medicine. You must be patient in what you are doing. You must not doubt yourself. You must carry on and the most important thing is that you must put your trust in God. Trust God in everything that you do. Just give him your problems he will solve them,” Mopeli says.

ADVERTISEMENT

Her faith has carried her through difficult periods. “You know God has done so much for me,” she says, pausing for a moment. “The reason why I am quiet is because I’m becoming so emotional. Let’s just talk about last year. The very same year that we harvested in April, May, June, July, there was no rainfall, my dear.”

Mahadi Mopeli, a Free State farmer, in conversation with "Vir die liefde van die land" TV host Ivor Price. Photo: WYRD Films
Mahadi Mopeli, a Free State farmer, in conversation with “Vir die liefde van die land” TV host Ivor Price. Photo: WYRD Films

The rains eventually came, although it was late. “It did not stop, so we planted very late. But what I can tell you is that God almighty is trustworthy. One was able to harvest. One was able to put something on the table. That’s when I figured, never doubt God. God is always trustworthy.”

Mopeli is flourishing despite other personal challenges too. When she lost her husband, her three children were all younger than seven. Despite death’s sting she continued to study and make a career for herself. Setting an example for her children by going to school was important because she wanted to inspire them.

“I wanted to encourage my kids to study, so I studied. I wanted them to say, ‘Even my mom went to university and that she is a post-graduate, so why can’t I do it or even go beyond what she did?’”

“One was able to harvest. One was able to put something on the table. That’s when I figured, never doubt God. God is always trustworthy.”

Mopeli first obtained a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of the Free State while she was still working as a librarian. But she wouldn’t venture into teaching because she always wanted to become a farmer. She was inspired by the women in her birth town of Qwa-Qwa who used to farm for a living.

“Our fathers used to go to the mines and then our mothers would be left at home doing everything here. The fathers would be away for nine months and would only come back during harvest season. So, women would use farming to put food on the table and make a living,” she says.

The value of mentorship

Mopeli is also the first to acknowledge that she wouldn’t have been able to do it alone.

“I trusted God and I got encouragement. When I see other farmers farming and putting their trust in God, it keeps me going. On top of that, I have a mentor in the Greyling family. The Greylings really inspired me a lot. They are like my family.”

Her future goal is to become a commercial farmer. “I see myself as a commercial farmer who will be able to create jobs for the community, who will be able to export for business and who will be able to fulfil my needs.”

She encourages the youth to change their perspective about farming.

“I just want to advice the youth that farming is not a dirty job. Farming is everything. You get your clothes from farming, food from farming and everything we are living with is from farming. So, they must really try to change their thinking and really look at farming. Farming is everything and farming is not something that just started now. It started in the garden of Eden.”

  • Mopeli is featured on the popular television show called Vir die liefde van die land. The DStv show is produced by Food For Mzansi and the VKB Group. For top inspirations from the farming community, watch the show on Thursdays at 18:00 on VIA, channel 147.

 

Tags: FarmingFree StateMahadi MopeliQuarrihoekQwa-QwaUniversity of Free StateWarden
Previous Post

Five things happening in SA agriculture today, 16 November 2020

Next Post

Alcohol industry backs Ramaphosa’s economic recovery plan

Sinesipho Tom

Sinesipho Tom

Sinesipho Tom is an audience engagement journalist at Food for Mzansi. Before joining the team, she worked in financial and business news at Media24. She has an appetite for news reporting and has written articles for Business Insider, Fin24 and Parent 24. If you could describe Sinesipho in a sentence you would say that she is a small-town girl with big, big dreams.

Related Posts

A traditional healer claims to have discovered the bodies of two parents and their three children on the Toekoms farm outside Harrismith in the Free State. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Police vow to find seven farmworkers’ killers

by Tiisetso Manoko
19th July 2022
0

Prompted by provincial police commissioner Baile Motswenyane, a manhunt is on for the murderers of six women and one young...

Pictures of the dilapidated Diyatalawa Agri-Village were released this week by Dr Roy Jankielsohn, DA leader in the Free State. Photos: Supplied

In pictures: Can this failed farm village be resurrected?

by Duncan Masiwa
6th July 2022
0

Another failed farm is in the spotlight. Free State agri MEC Thembeni Nxangisa says his office will suggest that strategic...

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

by Tiisetso Manoko
28th June 2022
0

INSPIRATION: Former chemical engineer, Reggie Kambule, had big boots to fill when he took over from his father to co-run...

The State Capture commission made a range of recommendations to prevent corrupt projects like the Estina Vrede Dairy Farm project in future. Image: Food For Mzansi

Vrede Dairy Farm: Heads must roll, say farmers

by Tiisetso Manoko
24th June 2022
0

It can't go on like this, with billions disappearing into corrupt and ineffective land reform projects. So say farmers and...

Next Post
South Africa's alcohol industry suffers severe losses due to trade on the black market. Photo: Supplied

Alcohol industry backs Ramaphosa's economic recovery plan

Households in South Africa could be in for some respite in the coming months on food prices. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
News

Food may soon be cheaper. What’s the catch?

by Duncan Masiwa
12th August 2022
0

There’s a whole list of basic food items that are set to become cheaper soon. But there are factors at...

Read more
Archive photo. Western Cape agri MEC Ivan Meyer highlighted small towns' dependence on agriculture during a recent provincial summit with municipal leaders. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

ICYMI: MEC lines up municipal support for farmers

12th August 2022
Christo Van der Rheede is the executive director of Agri SA. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Former music teacher leads agri’s greatest symphony

12th August 2022
Bumper harvest for Mzansi’s olive growers

Bumper harvest for Mzansi’s olive growers

11th August 2022
Thanks to Netafim’s innovative solutions, drip irrigation is within reach of small-scale farmers. Photo: Supplied

Yes, precision irrigation is possible on a budget

11th August 2022

New farmer? Informal markets ‘the way to go’

ICYMI: MEC lines up municipal support for farmers

Food may soon be cheaper. What’s the catch?

She bosses: ‘We see farming changing for good’

Determination drives this #SoilSista to succeed

60m. mouths to feed: ‘We’ve got you, Mzansi’

THE NEW FACE OF SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE

With 12 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.

How the Internet of Things is transforming agri

Drug dealer turned farmer ploughs back

Beat the winter blues with yummy butter chicken

Food may soon be cheaper. What’s the catch?

ICYMI: MEC lines up municipal support for farmers

Former music teacher leads agri’s greatest symphony

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

Contact us
Office: +27 21 879 1824
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.