 Now that you've graduated, what's the plan? Well, to be quite honest, right now, I'm in partnership with... Welcome to the Private Property Farming Podcast. My name is Mbali Nwako, your host every Tuesdays and Thursdays right here on the Private Property Channel. Thank you so much for tuning in and for subscribing into our channel. You know, we don't only have the Farming Podcast right here on the Private Property YouTube Channel, but we do have other podcasts that are related to property that will suit your needs around property, getting all the expert advice, learning from the journeys that people have taken into buying their first homes, showing you the glamorous homes that exist within our country. And also, I think bringing it back to the soil, down to the ground, and we speak about agriculture, the business of farming, farming, we speak to graduates, professionals right here on the Farming Podcast. So if you have an interest in agriculture and interest in farming, want to know what these fancy jargons are, food security, sustainability, intensive farming, you know, this is the place where you get all the gems and the information around farming. Today, we're speaking to a young agricultural graduates. We don't necessarily always put the spotlight on young graduates. We may talk about youth unemployment. We may talk about young people getting into the agri industry. We may talk about trying to make agri sexy for the youth, but you know, we don't always come across young graduates who maybe can share their voice, share their frustrations, share their journeys around farming, and why it is they got into this industry. So if you are thinking where are youth or young people in farming, I think today the guest that we're speaking to is definitely one of those examples of a young person who decided to follow and pursue a career in agriculture and more so dedicate her life within her studies around agriculture, specific niche that she did study, and we're going to unpack that today in the show and explore what challenges she's been able to face and what her aspirations are to penetrate this industry. And we are talking to Amalembu. She is a young graduate. She studied crop production. So if you have any questions for her, get to understand her journey, how difficult or easy it is for a young person to break into this industry. And yeah, let's hear what she has to say. Amal, thank you so much for joining us. How are you doing? I'm doing fine. How are you doing? I'm doing all right. So I think the question that we firstly want to know that, yes, you're a young female in the agriculture industry. What drew you in to pursue studies in agriculture or pursue maybe a career in the agricultural sector? Well, in all honesty, I am from Eastern Cape. I grew up in the rural areas. So we practice a lot of farming there. So when I grew up, this thing of agriculture grew inside me and I knew that I'm going to choose science when I'm choosing the subjects in grade 10, FAT phase. And then I knew after that that I'm going to pursue the stream and then go study agriculture adversity. Then I went to CPUT and then I did my agriculture studies and then I graduated now. So that's where this whole inspiration came. Right. So how long did it take you to pursue your degree? And also, do you have to go for any practicals whilst you were completing your studies? Yes, I had to. You study for two years and then you go to the practicals for a year. Yes. It's a whole year. You go through practicals in different farms and then you get the experiments and everything. You start learning the whole thing under the practicals because theory is just theoretical work and you're just learning some things. You just don't know what they're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. I can see that you're very shy and reserved. You know, was Agri the first career choice that you wanted to take or was it just maybe a second or a third option because you couldn't get into your first career choice? No, it was actually my first choice because it was science. I've always loved science. So that's why. Yeah. And just to clarify, Amatya, what discipline did you graduate in within agriculture? I'm not sure what you're asking. So what I'm trying to say is that what is your degree? Is it animal production, crop production, agricultural, economics? What discipline did you study? It's crop production. All right. And so tell us a little bit what goes into the studies or theoretical background around crop production? If you could just explain to us. Okay. Around crop production, you start learning from the environment to the soil that you're going to plant in, to the area, to the plants, the variety of plants, to the practices, to the pesticides. You learn about everything. Actually, crop is like a baby. You have to know everything about the crop before planting. Yeah. So tell me, with all the practicals that you did in various farms, what type of learning experience did you take out of that, having come into working into those farms with a theoretical background? So what type of learnings did you pick up from the farms? What did it teach you about the farmers that we have in the country maybe, or in the community? What did it teach you about the business of farming and the industry at large? Oh, it taught me that agriculture is very, very difficult. It is difficult. You need perseverance. You need to be sure about what you're doing. If you're a quitter, you don't fit in the agricultural industry. So you have to be certain about what you're going to do because sometimes you can put a lot of money into a plant and then you can just disappoint you and not grow. And then you just lost your money. You just lost your budget. So now you have to try other alternatives and maybe it's not even you. It's the environment. It's stressful, but then when it goes to its peak, you are just going to get a whole lot of profit. Yeah. So Amash, do you come from a family of farmers? Do you have land at home? Now that you've graduated, what's the plan? Well, to be quite honest, right now, I'm in partnership with my aunt with this agricultural thing because you've seen my page and everything. I'm not working under someone as if maybe it's someone that I don't know and it's a professional thing like that. So that's why I'm keen on starting my own farm because I'm actually partnering with my aunt, which means half of the things that we do is my responsibility. So tell us about this farm that you are working with with your aunt. How many hectares it is? Is it in the Eastern Cape? What is it that you're farming and what is it that you've learned taking from studying your crop production degree to doing your practicals at the various other farms, taking all that learning and experience and applying into this farm that you have with your aunt? What are the differences that you're starting to see or maybe similarities? And most importantly, are you enjoying this career path that you've taken? Okay. It's two hectares, but I do have my own land and I'm not getting to start anything without grasping more knowledge because if you are a kin in the agriculture industry, you have to go to seminars and the knowledge never stops. So to answer your question from the practical places that I've been in, so it's very difficult to compare them because now from the practical places, it was a lot of plants, it was fruits, it was everything, it was stressful, but then now we're facing, we're just looking at one crop and we're focusing at one crop. So it's not that difficult, but then I can just say that the only challenge that we're facing is only the money because you have to budget and then you lose and then you have to keep budgeting, keep budgeting and then it's just, it's just about money now, it's just about the budgets and money and all that because the planting process and everything is just, is easy because I have learned about that. I'm glad that you're mentioning the aspect of finances or capital, money, the investment that you have to put into your farm, etc. So obviously that brings in the element of business, right? Because yes, you might have the technical knowledge which is the understanding of how you produce crops because you've got a crop production degree and a bit of experiential learning, but now that you're doing it for yourself, you are obviously entering into the entrepreneurship space or the business space where now you have to say, I need finances to grow, what does that look like, what does growth look like, how much does it cost, etc. So tell me, do you think now that maybe you need a little bit more mentoring around the business element of farming, just to help you to handle cash flows, to help you understand the budget, to mitigate against the financial risks when the crops do not germinate? Do you think now that over and above your crop production experience, now you need a bit of mentoring around business or just exposure around business to make your farm successful? You know, us as youth, we just look at agriculture as maybe an activity that is easier to do, maybe something that you can just go to, maybe your garden and then perform, but it's not like that. Agriculture revolves around money and in CPT, they did teach me about the thinking, the economics part of it. So you have to know the budget, you have to keep investing, you have to look for investors, you have to get an extension officer that's going to tell you how to use your money, you have to go to seminars and understand how to use the money. That's why the government offers us the funding for youth, I'm sure you know that NYT, funding, I'm pretty sure you're aware of that. So it's actually about the money. If you don't know how to use your money, then you can't start agriculture, you can't do anything Yeah, I mean just yesterday we had a youth day, what are your thoughts around youth in farming? I mean you're a young person in the farming industry, are there any other young people that you grew up with within the Eastern Cape community that have seen you and said I also want to study agriculture or maybe not, are they pursuing other careers? But yeah, just tell us what is your opinion or your perspective around young people in farming over and above what you've just said around young people farming and a bit of finances? Well, in South Africa I can just say agriculture is good for youth because funding, a lot of funding for agriculture arrange at the ages from 18 to 23 and that's youth. In South Africa there are a lot of benefits for youth in agriculture and some of them wanted to study agriculture because they've seen what I do and I can testify that a lot of people around South Africa, I don't think they are fully aware of the gains that agriculture gives to us because agriculture is part of the four sectors that give out the money in South Africa. Agriculture is very rich, if you just want to start this thing as youth, I'm pretty sure now I'm 22 years old but at the age of 29 I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to make millions for myself but it's just that it's just that it's underrated, people don't know about it. So as youth it's our responsibility to learn everything and then take it back to the community and then tell them that's why there's a significance for seminars. I'm glad that you have such great positivity around the future more so your future within the agriculture industry. So let's talk about when you're 29, right? You said you're 22 now but the long-term view is that when you're 29 you want to be financially successful and free I suppose. So what is that long-term vision? Where do you see yourself at 29 owning land? Maybe working across the value chain? What are your dreams and hopes and aspirations for the future in the industry? Well I already have land and I don't want to temper with that land. I want to use that land when I know for sure what's my plan. Already there's a business plan. Already there's a proposal for the NYTA. Already I have plans. Already I've pressed knowledge but then I'm still gaining more knowledge. I want to start this whole journey with a lot of knowledge and a lot of applications that are going to make me gain than to lose because agriculture is a two-way street. You either lose or win and it needs you to become and know where you're going. So that's why I'm determined that at the age of 29 my son will be undergoing a process of developing and I'm going to have like a lot of retail shops because there's this thing that youngsters don't understand. They don't understand that if maybe you I'm going to make an example. They don't understand if maybe you have like a land and then you plant let's just say you plant spinach and then you plant the proper spinach. You can take that proper spinach and then offer it back to the retail shops. Retail shops are maybe spa, showbrite and all those things. They think maybe it's like a hard thing to do. It's hard for everyone to do that but no those shops are the ones that leave us as the youth. So in all honesty I just want to say at the age of 29 I wish and hope that I get this podcast again and then you ask me where I'm at. That's great. We surely hope that the podcast is around at the age when you turn 29 and we will hunt you down and try to find out you know where you are but I'm glad that you're so positive around your future especially in angry because yeah we do need farmers to start farming now so that we can you know ensure the longevity of the industry but to conclude our conversation today I might I just want to know from your words how else can the industry support young farmers and young woman farmers to be specific to really grow make a success out of their agricultural careers you've spoken a lot today around financing supporting young people around financing institutions like the NYDA supporting young people around financing just to get started etc but how else do you think the industry as a whole the sector agriculture can support young people as well as young female potential farmers to really make a success out of their careers within the industry well I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to answer you with the same things again because it all revolves around those things honestly the industry can just help us as young farmers with funding with knowledge we still need to know a lot more about those things we still need to go abroad and learn more about those things we know that South Africa does farming but it's not really what they are looking into just like Canada and England so they need to take us to those seminars the seminars abroad they need to help us with the findings and how to use the money because you can give us the money and then we're gonna take it and then use it for other things we can use it for other things we need to be told we need mentors if if I say I want to start farming you need to offer me a mentor you need to offer me funding you need to offer me a seminar it's like a whole course again it's not just a general thing yeah understood but thank you so much for your time today Amade I think I've pretty got the gist of who you are what you want to do I'm just happy to hear the positivity around agriculture congratulations on completing your degree and thank you for coming into your to the podcast maybe also to just just to share your journey um around how you feel that you need to be supported in the industry and that was a great conversation that we've had with Amade Umbuto a young agricultural graduate who completed a crop production a degree she's just fresh out of university and you heard a cry she said you know she needs funding um exposure to research and mentorship just ways in which she can develop herself so that she can become a successful farmer one day so I really hope that you also share the same sentiments you see that there are young people who are actually passionate about farming you know because the perception out there is that young people don't want to go into farming but there are those that really want to go into farming there are those that have access to land but not access to financial resources to make those land productive so if you want to support Amade in any way perhaps reach out to her but I hope that you could see that there are young people who want to really pursue long-standing careers in the industry and her big goal is to be a successful farmer at the age of 29 so I hope she really pursues that goal and that dream and that she could obviously contribute positively towards the sector thank you so much for watching this week's episode of the farming podcast brought to you by private property please bring in the suggestions suggestions of who you'd like to see what you'd like us to talk about because this farming podcast is for you a way for you to expand your knowledge around the agriculture sector um learn more about the industry the intricacies the positives the negatives the lows the highs um anything that you want to explore in the sector I think we are the podcast that could give you that information so thank you so much for tuning in subscribe to our podcast watch the all of all the other podcasts that we have on the private property channel and keep supporting us like and share to as many people thank you that's it for me and I will see you next episode goodbye