By Obed Makgoale
Thabitha Chauke’s resilience on farm applications finally paid off.
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) gave a visit to a young female farmer in the Northam farming area on 3 August 2023 to assess progress since the beneficiary, Ms Thabitha Kedibone Chauke, was allocated a commercial farm to enhance and create opportunities for women in agriculture.
Representatives of the mainstream media houses formed part of the visit.
The assessment sought to determine whether the allocated 1 239 hectare (ha)-farm in September 2022 is achieving the expected results; still represents good value for money; and whether the livelihood of the beneficiary and her family has improved since the project allocation.
Indications were that the farming activities meet and comply with the objectives of the Land Reform Programme, hence the need for an oversight visit to assess progress.
Thus far, Chauke has already harvested sunflowers on 500 ha in the month of May 2023. Above that, she has established the market linkage with AFGRI Grain Management which is less than 5 km from her farm. In expansion, Chauke has introduced a new breed of Bonsmara cattle.
The farming activities at Chauke’s project created much needed jobs to five permanent employees and five additional seasonal jobs.
At the time of the acquisition through a departmental initiative called the Proactive Land Acquisition (PLAS), which is part of the Land Redistribution Programme, portion 6 and 7 of the farm located at Kaalvlakte 416 KQ in Mortham, Thabazimbi local Municipality, Waterberg District, was used for sunflower, sorghum, and cattle production.
It was established during the handover that Chauke had applied for farm multiple times with no success. Her resilience, patience and hopeful throughout the years had finally paid off. Expressing her courage, Chauke said, “Farming is my passion hence I did not give up when I was sending applications without success. I knew my day will come. I am more than ready to start working. As of tomorrow, I will be on the ground doing soil preparation for sunflower”.
The visit coincides with the beneficiary celebrating her first anniversary on the property while the department used the opportunity to celebrate both the anniversary and Women’s Month. Women’s Month was celebrated under the theme, “Accelerating socio-economic opportunities for women’s empowerment”.
Sigqibo Mfuywa, District Director: Waterberg District explains the support programme provided by the department.
