EC women farmers receive top honours
Two enjoy fruit of labour at Female Entrepreneur of the Year
TWO Eastern Cape women farmers emerged victorious at the Female Entrepreneur of the Year awards in Limpopo.
Philiswa Fadana of Woodbury, located between Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown, won the minister’s special award as the best performing female farmer living with disabilities.
Fadana cannot speak clearly as a result of a car accident in 2009. She acquired her farm in 2011 but her disability did not stop her from starting a red meat abattoir.
She currently holds the province’s top producer award in the smallholder category.
Another Eastern Cape farmer, Jenecia Janse of Oudrift in the Cacadu District, walked away with the award for the top producer in the export category and overall winner.
Janse pocketed R250 000 plus a tablet for her category win and R500 000 as the overall winner.
Fadana walked away with R100 000 plus a computer tablet for her win.
Janse, who was featured in the Daily Dispatch yesterday, also holds the award for the top Eastern Cape producer for export.
Eastern Cape rural development and agrarian reform MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane congratulated both women for their respective awards.
He said their achievements showed women’s abilities and capabilities were not limited.
“The success of both Philiswa Fadana and Jenecia Janse is a solid testament of the positive results of the ANC’s land reform policy that affirms women as competent farmers alongside their male counterparts,” Qoboshiyane said.
“Our agriculture economic transformation strategy is anchored on advancing working agriculture businesses, like the ones owned by Fadana and Janse, through partnerships and hands-on support resulting into off-take agreements for producers to grow