“Don’t be in a rush for money, do it for the passion and everything else will follow.” So says vegetable farmer and managing director of Oneo farms Eric Mauwane, who joins us on this week’s Farmer’s Inside Track video episode.
In his video, Mauwane touches on his transition from corporate systems engineer to agriculturalist and talks about the challenges of managing his family–run business.
The 40-year-old entrepreneur farms in Tarlton, North West of Krugersdorp in Gauteng and firmly believes passion and resilience yields great success in the agricultural industry.
“In this industry, if you don’t show dedication people will not take you seriously,” he says. “A lot of doors were closed on me up until I started planting my first crops and people started to realize my potential,” he continues.
Throughout his discussion, Mauwane advises youth to be consistent in their agricultural endeavours. “One of the biggest mistakes we tend to make as farmers is that we are not consistent. We tend not to produce the right quality when we start.”
He adds that the agricultural industry is broad enough for young people to explore all facets of the industry. He encourages youth to acquaint themselves with the basic processes in agriculture, but always be mindful of the next phase of the process.
“The pie in agriculture is big. It is a question of where you fit in. A lot of people are focusing on primary agriculture which is planting crops. But after that what do we do?” he asks.
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Mauwane further encouraged the youth specifically to turn their sights towards agro–processing.
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