 to the Private Property Farming Podcast. My name is Zimbabwe Nwako, your host, as always, every Tuesdays and Thursdays right here on the Farming Podcast, brought to you by Private Property. I know you're watching this through YouTube, so please subscribe to our channel. You can catch all the videos that we've recorded over the past two years or so on the Farming Podcast playlist under the Private Property Channel. And so please feel free to comment, like, share, subscribe, give your suggestions of what you would like to see right here on the Farming Podcast. As always, we're here to entertain, educate, and inform you around farming and the industry at large, which is agriculture. And we bring to you farmers, entrepreneurs, stakeholders, agribusinesses, everybody across the value chain to discuss a specific topic around the industry of farming and agriculture. Today, as always, I'm happy to interview females on the podcast because, like I say, you know, people keep saying that we don't get enough females. Where are they? Where are they? But I think what the channel is doing is definitely exposing the females that are in farming. And so today we're joined by Homozo Ramatro. And she is from PKR Farming. She's a farmer based in the Eastrend in Brakban, to be specific. And the topic for today is, should I quit my job to start farming? That's an interesting one, especially in today's economic climate. There are tons of you out there who have green fingers, who want to start farming, especially from a commercial or a business element and, you know, graduate somewhat from your farming, gardening operations. And so let's hear from Homozo in terms of does she advocate people quitting a job to start farming? And maybe share her experience around her farming journey, because I know she was a corporate person. And now she's obviously moved to working in the fields in the farm. And so, yeah, if you have any questions for Homozo, please feel free to comment. But let's get right into the show and welcome her to the podcast. Homozo, thank you so much for joining. How are you doing today and how's the farm looking like? Thank you for having me in Bali. I'm good. The farm is okay. It's a little bit quiet because it's winter, but the farm is still running. Okay, perfect. So what on the street is that, you know, you went into farming simply because you used to reminisce your grandmother growing fresh vegetables or produce. Is that true? Yes or no? And why did it take you so long to start farming? I was raised by my grandmother. And we, we didn't really have a lot. So what happened was we, she would grow vegetables to actually sustain the household when my mom was away working in the city. So being a loner, I've always been a loner. So I spent most of my time with her and that, that sort of made me fall in love with farming. That is how the whole relationship with farming and my grandmother began. But more than anything else, it was, when I lost my job, it was, it was, it was really an emotional time. And the decision had to go and come from a very emotional place. And which only made sense that my grandmother was an integral part of me making that decision. Yeah. And so tell me, before you started farming, what were you doing? And then do you have any agricultural experience? Where did you also get the training, if not? Before I started farming, I had been with a financial institution for 15 years. So I had, I had been the, the, the banking girl for 15 years. And one day you woke up, the company was going under a restructure and some of us had to be let go. But the nice thing that happened with, with my ex employer was they gave us opportunities to upscale. So when the decision was finally made for me to go into farming, I was then offered an opportunity to go and upscale where the company would pay for it. With my research, the nearest place that I could find to go and do this was Buche Farming Academy. It's in Delmas. So I went and I did my vegetable production training with them for a good three and a half months. That is where I got my training for farming. Yeah. And so transitioning from a bank or banking environment for 15 years, that's quite a long time to farming. How was that transition like? Because I know I also found difficulties as well. Coming from corporate, going into farming, you're dealing with different people in terms of education level experience, you know, especially when you come from used, where you come from an environment, where you're working on your laptop, you're sending emails, you're sitting in air conditions offices, you're sending proposals, et cetera. So how is that transition from the banking environment or corporate sector into farming? What are some of the difficulties or just experiences that you've learned that has made you to become the farmer that you are today? I think one of the key things that I will always say is coming from the corporate environment before the difficulties was an advantage. Because you come from an environment where in where you had been working previously, you were running a department, you were responsible for that department being profitable and all that. So it was very easy for me to take the recent learnings and apply them in my farming environment. So that was the biggest advantage having come from that environment where you had been problem solving, dealing with customer service and all those things. It became easy for me to take those learnings and apply them into my farming journey. And that was the advantage. But the disadvantages were a lot. I think more than anything else, the first one that would come to anybody's mind is as a woman, how were you received? So being second guest by everybody from your employees right up to your customers, where people take chances because you're a woman, the assumption is you don't know anything about farming. So people can walk over you and treat you the way that they feel that they needed to treat you or purely because they felt that you didn't belong in there. So it's either you didn't know much or you don't belong there. The second one, which was also very strenuous for me, I'm finding a way to navigate at the moment is to wear multiple hats. So you come from an environment where you had all these stakeholders and resources that were made available to you for you to be successful. Now, all of a sudden, you don't have all those things, you are on your own. So you don't have HR. You are HR on your own. You don't have marketing. You don't have the logistics team. You are doing all these things on your own. So that is the most difficult thing that you have to do because one way or the other, you will have to wear these hats and you are on your own when it comes to wearing these hats unless you then outsource, which is very expensive. Yeah. And just over and above just the corporate world going into farming, right? How is also the transition from being an employee to an employer? Where do I start? So having to have somebody's heat for you to dip into, to pay yourself and pay people, now all of a sudden is you are the mother ship. Everybody is looking at you for their household livelihood. So everything fell upon you. I have the most pressure at every day of my life because I know that if I don't make one, two, three, four, five, I've got 10, 15 people that are looking at me to say, but we didn't eat this week. We didn't pay rent this week. So that was the hardest to now not be the only person that is important in your life. But now you've got all these other people and their families that have become part of your responsibilities. That was the hardest. Yeah. And tell us a bit more about PKR farming. So I know that there's a farming element and then now there's farming and services. So firstly, what is it that you're farming and what are the other services that you're offering? So at the moment, we're doing vegetable production. So it's just purely farming, but in the long, in the long run, the idea was to take what we were, we are farming to actually actual process. So what we do at the moment is we do different kinds of vegetables. We are doing spinach. We are doing spring onions. The big one that we are doing is chilies. So we've gone into doing different varieties of chilies, which is what is supposed to be the identity of PKR farming going forward to be a purely hot pepper farm. That's fantastic. And why specifically chilies? Is there any reason? There is reasons. So I'm operating on a five hectare farm. So there is relatively, well, not big compared to what a normal farm would be tamed, which is anything above eight and a half hectares. So the use of a small space to maximize profit is very important for me. I have done all the other stuff. I have done the cabbages. I have done the fruits. I have done everything else. But when I had to go back and compare the returns on chilies and all these other crops, I found that chilies was actually the most profitable. And also the idea that you are able to multiple harvest from just one crop, if you take care of it, we will actually influence that decision. So when we had a hail storm the last time, when everything else recovered and recovered, but still had a lot of issues with diseases, chilies recovered and it still stayed firm and produced actually more than what we had expected it to actually produce. So that was a very easy decision to actually say, this is the way that we should then focus and continue. Yeah. Homo, I know you said that you were retrenched from a former employer and then you went straight into farming. And there are a lot of people right now experiencing financial difficulties in their personal income, in their personal capacities, whether maybe they've been retrenched at work or their salaries have been cut down in half, et cetera, et cetera. And also there's two ways, right? People go into entrepreneurship because they're forced to in the sense that you're retrenched, now you have to find alternatives or they go into entrepreneurship because it's been their long-term passion and they want to pursue something meaningful for them. So now would you advocate people to quit their jobs to start farming or would for those that also want to tap into the agri-space, maybe they'd have land at home, et cetera, what would you advise? Should they quit to start farming or should they juggle both during the weekends or maybe should they stick to their day job because everybody it seems like just wants to become a farmer? Everybody wants to be a farmer and I think most of us we are to blame for that because we share what we do and people think that it's easy because we only share only the good stuff. But when it comes to the decision of having to leave your employee to pursue farming, if it is really, really something that you really passionate about because the one thing that I will be honest about is it is hard work. It is difficult like any other business, it is going to break you. There will be a lot of wins and losses so you need to be steadfast and be sure that there is really, really what you want to do. And I think one thing that I would really advise a lot of people to do which I didn't have an opportunity to do is do your homework before you actually leave. So before you actually have that exit, just have a proper exit plan. For example, if you're going to buy land, make sure that the land is bought before you leave because the minute you leave then you become not credit worthy. So you cannot purchase anything because there's no salary coming in. So things like purchasing land must be done beforehand. The other thing is you need to know where you're going to do all this to be able to do your planning properly because you can't just leave and then suddenly say I'm going to look for land to start farming. All these things need to happen whilst you are still in your employ. So it needs to be part of your exit plan. Your exit plan needs to be very solid. Also one of the decisions that you really need to make is are you going to build a farm from scratch or are you going to buy an existing farm? Because I can tell you building a farm from scratch is really expensive. Buying a farm that's already set up might be a little bit costly but it's going to save you a lot of headaches. But also if you're really buying land and setting up your own farm, I think that's my favorite thing to do personally because it allowed me to build what I want. My vision, I saw my vision coming through to life and that was the key thing for me. And also the other thing is maybe don't do this out of desperation. I had a choice to actually go and fix my CV and go into another bank and look for a job. But I had been at a place where I felt that it was it was long overdue. After 15 years and this one opportunity presents itself to pursue something that you've always wanted to do. I was not going to let that go. That is exactly what happened to me. But the idea of leaving a job and wanting to go into farming, don't go into it because it's fashionable. Go into it because it's something that is really personal to you and it's something that you know for a fact that you can do. Because one day you will be the field to work at. One day you will be the driver because the driver didn't pitch at work. Are those the kind of things that you are going to be able to handle or you want to have just a business of farming? So that's how I would actually just go about it. Yeah, what has kept you going through the difficult times? I have every good support system. My mom went into a panic when I told her that I was starting my farm business. She didn't really understand why my daughter of all things would actually go into this. But over time she's been converted and she's my biggest support system. My partner is always, he's always had my back as well. So that's one person when I feel that the world is falling apart. I always go in and cry. Yes, we do cry a lot. I have my friends that are in the industry that act as mentors and friends. I always normally just call it a time out and I drive and I go to my friends farm. I think we both know the same person, Eric. I call it time out and I go to every farm and I sit there for the whole day and I vent in all that. But above anything else is I had made a really conscious decision that this is what I am going to do and this is what I'm going to be successful at. Even though it gets tough, that one vision that I have in my mind about where the farm is supposed to be is the thing that keeps me going. I know that it's not supposed to be easy. It's supposed to be hard. But more than anything else, I love what I do. I enjoy what I do. I don't think I would wake up and do anything else at this point in time. So that's one of the reasons why I get out of bed every day and still do what I do. Yeah. I think what you're saying is something that we don't often look or touch on, you know, the support structures that farmers have just outside of production. You know, I'm not talking about seed rips or bankers or financiers, but it's the people that touch into who we are, you know, because it is emotionally draining because you have to think of so many things for your farm. You've got people. You've got employees that you need to think of. And so we never really give gratitude to the individuals that support us from an emotional perspective. And so, Chomo, tell us about what's next for PKI our farming in the next three to five years. And yeah, just where are you looking to grow? So as I mentioned, I'm transitioning the farm from being what people would call all type of vegetable stock. I'm transitioning from that. I wanted to be purely a hot pepper farm. So what I'm trying to get to is to be where we are doing 80 percent hot peppers and maybe 20 percent of the other crops that we are still doing as our cash crops. One thing that we did that was very important for me at the moment is we had never been able to grow hot peppers in winter. But we actually have managed to overwinter our jalapeños. So we still have jalapeños in the field. We still harvesting, they still producing and all that. So it was very important for me to be able to see that process through. Because when I go into the full-time production of hot peppers, I want to be able to have them in summer and also in winter. But that comes with a cost. Because the ones that have survived are the ones that are undercover in the tunnels. So that means that I have to invest in more tunnels. So for me, it's just seeing through the process of transitioning at the farm to be known as a one-stop farm for your hot pepper purchases or supply. And when that has been said and done, obviously then acquire more land where the business grows and we are able to venture into something else. Yeah, all the success with you and your farm, your operation, especially around hot peppers. I know there are in demand as much as sweet peppers are. And I'm super excited to be speaking to a farmer that, you know, has obviously walked the journey, but also is able to think from a more long-term strategic view. And I advocate being known for a single crop. Because that's how you get your brand name out to the market, much better and much faster. You will be known for hot peppers. And I'm just talking purely from experience there. But thank you so much, Chomozo, for your time and for just sharing your journey with us here on the podcast. Thank you so much for having me, Berlina. Thank you. It's a pleasure. If you just catch last while, sorry for you. You've just missed the conversation with Chomozo. But good news is that this episode is on the YouTube channel. And so you could play back right to the beginning and get to understand who Chomozo Ramatloh is and her farming operations, which is situated all the way in Brakban. She left a corporate career for about 15 years, was retrenched and started farming, and she is thoroughly enjoying it. And she did say that she does not see herself doing anything else. And I think some of the important points that I took from our conversation today is that, yes, even though you're thinking of quitting your job to start farming, you need to know the why. Right? Why do you want to quit your job to start farming? Is farming your passion? Is farming an opportunity that you're seeing right now in the market that you could create a legacy for your family? You just need to know your why. Why should I quit my job? Is this going to serve me? And most importantly, have a team of people and individuals around you that could hold your hand when times are tough. And even when they're good, have people to celebrate as well with you, with all the milestones and successes that you have achieved. Because farming is difficult. And I think every single farmer that comes onto the podcast definitely hints that to say, yes, things might look rosy on the outside, but internally on the ground, on the farm, there's so many obstacles that we have to deal with. Because farmers at the end of the day are business people. And running a business is not for the faint-hearted. I really hope that you will enjoy this episode if you're just going to watch it right now. But for those of you that have been watching, please comment and share this video with as many people as possible, because we want to spread the word of agriculture. And like I say every show, if there's any suggestions that you want to have, that you have of guests that you want us to bring onto the show, and topics that you want us to explore in much detail, please feel free to bring those suggestions forward to us. Well, that's it for me. I will see you on the next episode of the Private Property Farming Podcast. Take care. We're over. Thank you, bud. Thank you. I spoke to him when was it on Tuesday, I think, we were talking about orderings of seeds, because I'm already just trying to get the summer crunching going. So yeah, we were chit chatting around those. But yeah. Recording stopped. Why am I giving you heavy pie?