Doctor says farming is a lifestyle for him
His dream of seeing many young people get involved in agriculture motivates Doctor Mathebula to work tirelessly
“Only passion will sustain you,” says one of the Mopani district’s dynamic and upcoming farmers, Mathebula. He says his love for farming began as a young boy when he helped his neighbour in his vegetable garden. In high school, he chose agricultural studies as a subject and eventually attained a qualification in animal production from the University of Limpopo and an agroecology qualification from the University of Stellenbosch.
In 2018 he and two partners, Ralph Khosa and Melon Ngobeni, founded a company, Mphephu General Enterprise, producing crops at Mathebula’s home. They planted mustard spinach, chilies, tomatoes, and cabbages which they sold to villagers. “We believe in distributing our produce to our people first, then selling to the big retailers. We want them to benefit from our produce,” he said. Mathebula told the Herald that he is especially passionate about organic farming.
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“You are what you eat, organic food is much better than produce grown with pesticides and insecticides,” he added. The three partners now have secured a 3-hectare piece of land and they are hoping to introduce livestock to their farming in addition to their crop farming. Mathebula has partnered with Choice Trust in Tzaneen training backyard and communal farmers on organic production across the district.
His advice to prospective farmers is to be passionate about agriculture as it is a challenging sector. “People must never start farming for monetary gain, because it is a tough industry. “There are many challenges such as capital, flooding and drought, market and land issues, and only passion will sustain you. “But it is a sector that is vital to human life and contributes to food security,” he. concluded. For more information call 068 121 8899 or email mphephu.g.enterprise@gmail.com.
