A North West woman is looking forward to a bright future after receiving a boost from the provincial government through a donation of goats to beef up her stock farming business.
Dipuo Tsaoka who operates her business in Makwassie outside Wolmaransstad believes there’s an abundance of opportunities in agriculture for women especially.
Tsaoka is one of the farmers who received ten goats and a buck, courtesy of the North West government’s program Thuntsha Lerole which is designed to ensure that the residents of the province get access to basic services such as water and electricity.
“I am grateful that I have this boost, it will be for the first time I farm with goats, I have sheep, bees, geese and ducks, this is a new adventure I am willing to explore,” she said.
Tsaoka said her plan is to see herself moving from being an emerging farmer to being a commercial farmer. “I want to go big, and I am not afraid to start, I know there are challenges but I know I will make it,” she said.
She also encouraged women to start thinking of farming as a career. “You have to be passionate, have interest, then the rest will be easy. There are a lot of opportunities in farming and women have the advantage”
North West’s MEC of Agriculture and Rural Development Desbo Mohono also handed over indigenous chickens and other production inputs to a number of households and centers in the Maquassi Hills Local Municipality.
At the North West Secondary School for the Deaf, the Department assisted with planting vegetables, installed an irrigation system, and provided a shade net, fertilisers, and seeds, while the Wolmaransstad Home for the Aged and Life Line Kgakala Centre received trays of eggs and will will also receive fruit trees from the Department.
Mohono encouraged residents of Maquassi Hills Municipality to take advantage of food security initiatives by the Department.
“Food insecurity remains a pervasive and serious problem. Too many North West residents, especially those residing in the rural areas still regularly find themselves living in poverty and without sufficient access to affordable and nutritious food.
“I am therefore calling on all residents of this municipality to join the Department in fighting against hunger and poverty by making sure at least each household has a vegetable garden,” Mohono said.
For sustainability purposes, the agricultural projects will be monitored by the District Food Security Teams from the Department.
The Thuntsha Lerole Programme will continue to be rolled out to other parts of the Province.
