16 Oct 2024

Collaborative efforts by residents of any locality can power them on to success in any endeavour that they may embark upon. 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Lemogang Kwape told farmers in Lorolwane on Tuesday that in order for them to reach greater levels of success, they should pool together resources and concentrate their efforts towards the achievement of a common goal.

Dr Kwape said farmers could achieve more from the sweat of their brows if they ditched the silo mentality that most of them operated based on.

“If you collaborate as farmers, you can achieve way more than you do when you work alone. There is a lot of power in working together as a single unit that when your efforts are fragmented,” he advised.

The minister, who was speaking at a training hosted by Rivarina Agric Services to equip famers with knowledge on the best management practices for small stock, also encouraged farmers to diversify their farming ventures.

He said there was a wide array of pursuits that they could take up with the farming sector, such as fish farming.

He said such types of farming, which the mainstream farming community often viewed as unconventional, could help make agriculture a true money spinner for many and could also put the sector in a position where it could contribute significantly to national job creation efforts.

Dr Kwape said the different interventions that government had put in place over time to support players within the sector were meant to make it an attractive and worthwhile undertaking for those plying their trade within it.

He then gave Rivarina Agric Services a pat on the shoulder for schooling Lorolwane farmers on good management practices for small stock, saying if taken to heart by the farmers, the knowledge imparted to them would help them realise greater returns from their activities within the small stock sub-sector.

The Director of Rivarina Agric Services, Dr Benjamin Sebonego said the company intended through the workshop, to impart to farmers the knowledge necessary for them to advance in farming.

Dr Sebonego said it was without doubt that agriculture could generate wealth for those who put their minds to it and engaged in it not as a pastime.

Kgosi Matlhoakgosi Matlho of Lorolwane welcomed the training, and observed that it would benefit residents in many great ways.

Kgosi Matlho said equipping farmers with the latest information on good livestock management practices would built resilience in farmers, putting them in good stead to face any challenges that they could encounter along the way. 

He said since the challenges faced by farmers today were numerous and more complex in nature than it was the case in yesteryears, it was important that farmers received all the help that they could use to be able to surmount them.

Farmers were trained on different aspects of good small stock management including proper feeding, as well as the prevention and treatment of small stock diseases among others. ENDS