The overwhelming and often patriarchal barriers that women in South African agriculture face, will never be enough to keep Mzansi’s she bosses down. This is the message that established women farmers have to share with Food For Mzansi in a special feature this Women’s Day.
Although the role of women in agriculture enjoys more recognition than it did a few years ago, there is still plenty more to be done to ensure the dignity of female farmers and agripreneurs.
Food For Mzansi spoke to seven ground breakers about the important role that women have to play in the health and wealth of agriculture in South Africa.
Ipeleng Kwadi-Seboni, cattle farmer in North West
What’s your take? Has Mzansi’s farming landscape for women evolved?
The landscape for women in agriculture has changed a lot. Women in agriculture are helping to pave a way for a better future in Africa. It is our responsibility to make sure that the future is empowered through great initiatives and efforts in the industry and through leadership opportunities.
Many women have become managers in the sector and are leader voices for the industry. Some are in boardrooms, in different organisations and associations, serving as advisors.
What challenges do you still face and how do we fix these?
Two major challenges that I face as a female farmer are access to land and a lack of financial support. This gap is making it difficult to strive for success. This year, I was forced to sell 30% of the production of our cattle due to not having land for expansion.
For the past eight years we have been leasing our neighbour’s camps for grazing during winter with the hope that I might get access to more land. I did so to avoid overgrazing. Other challenges included climate change and rising feed prices.
What’s your wish for agriculture in South Africa?
My wish for agriculture in South Africa is to see women farmers given greater access to land, to be empowered, and to feed the world. When women have enough land, families are better fed, better educated and healthier. There will be better progress in Africa.
Alfreda Mars, grain farmer in the Western Cape
Is your experience in farming different now than it was in the beginning?
The landscape were that black women farmers were seen as food security projects and not commercial contributors. When they got used to the fact that it was not [just] an entry phase for me, they nominated me onto several boards and only then saw that my inputs are of value in the farming community.
How about challenges?
Funding, acceptance in the grain business and gender equality are still some of the challenges that I face.
What’s your wish for agriculture in Mzansi?
My wish is that women will get acknowledgment as commercial farmers and that South Africa will start implementing women and youth development for the future. We need less shop talk.
Annalea van Niekerk, Sussex cattle breeder in the Free State
Do you think farming has changed for women in South Africa?
I think since I started farming there’s been a lot of positive changes for women in agriculture. The role that we play in agriculture is increasingly being highlighted. Also, more opportunities are being created for women in the sector. What I like is that it is no longer weird to hear that a woman is farming. It’s being normalised, thank God!
What are your thoughts on the remaining challenges?
Building industry knowledge was a major challenge at the beginning of my farming journey. I felt very unsure about myself and my position in agriculture. But, with time, you gain more self confidence in how you want to run your farming business, and what your goals are.
Finance remains a challenge. It really takes time to build something when you don’t have the capital.
Do you have a wish for the agri sector in the country?
Women in agriculture must embrace themselves as valuable players in the sector. Embrace it and enjoy it. I want women to know that their contribution to the sector is just as valuable as their male counterparts’. Continue taking the sector forward.
Kamohelo Bombe, agripreneur and media personality in Gauteng
Has Mzansi’s farming landscape seen some transformation for women?
Sadly – as women in agriculture – we still face the same problems. Access to land and information, funding and markets are still overwhelming problems for women in agriculture. However, it’s so refreshing to see that a lot of women are getting into the space.
What challenges do you still face? Do you think there’s a fix?
Funding is still a huge problem. I wish we could have more financial institutions that can help fund farmers, not only secondary farming but primary as well. I mean, it doesn’t make sense to fund secondary farmers and not fund primary farmers, I think.
What’s your wish for agriculture in South Africa?
We need support! The government is failing us. I won’t lie and it’s so sad. We are discouraged as women but we keep going because it is passion that drives us.
Kedibonye Kaweng, cattle farmer in the Northern Cape.
First thoughts on the farming landscape in Mzansi?
In my nine years of farming, I have seen a lot of growth in the sector, although more can be done in improving the role women play in the agricultural sector.
And what’s your take on the challenges that still exist?
The industry needs more women to tackle the issue of hunger, poverty, and eradication of unemployment, even though there is still doubt and a gap in the inclusion of women in business.
Importantly, farming is very expensive, so without the support in terms of financing, survival is minimal.
External factors have affected the industry holistically and drastically: uncertainty of market prices, our government legislation like the minimum wage, and climate change, the harvesting of lucerne that has reduced from 10 months to 5 months, and outbreaks of diseases in livestock.
If you could make one wish for agriculture in the country, what would it be?
All I can say to fellow women farmers is: let us break the cycle, grow a flourishing business, create sustainable jobs for our communities and contribute towards the growth in gross domestic product of our respective provinces and, ultimately, of the country.
Louisa Bezuidenhout, livestock farmer in the Northern Cape
What’s your take? Has Mzansi’s farming landscape for women evolved?
I have been farming for the past 18 years after my father gave me the farm to start working on it. The landscape of farming for women when I started was almost non-existent. There were practically no women farmers that I knew of in those days. If there were, they were few and co-owning the farm with male counterparts. There was not much land being made available for female farmers compared to now.
What challenges do you still face and how do we fix these?
When I started, I had no access to water for my livestock and access to markets was a problem. Also, being undermined for being a woman was a reality I also faced.
The biggest challenge was losing 32 cows to drought. Not having anyone to stand by your side and help you pick up was really tough on me. It’s not easy to do this all by yourself as a woman.
Government must do groundwork and speak to female farmers. We also want to participate in the markets like our male counterparts. Let’s not only acknowledge women in August, because our challenges are not only in August.
What’s your wish for agriculture in South Africa?
My wish is for the department to really prioritise women in agriculture. They should not be far from us when we need them. Climate change is impacting us and they [should] have the know-how on how we as farmers should tackle it. We need that information so we can be better placed to work the land.
Eugene Simons, Nursery owner in the Western Cape
What about being a woman in agriculture makes you smile?
It’s great to see more taking up space in the sector. There are much more women farmers in the sectors compared to when i started. Also, more youth are participating in the sector.
Any challenges you experienced?
In the beginning of my agricultural journey i experienced a lot of push back because the sector is dominated by men, and still is today. But women are no longer standing back. They are taking charge.
Wat would you like to see change in the sector?
I hope to see the stigma attached to farmers and farm workers. Without these people South Africans would not have food on their tables.
ALSO READ: Book now to attend Mzansi Young Farmers Indaba
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