Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
Top journalists and farmers announced
Excellence in agricultural journalism was celebrated at the Agricultural Writers Association’s Farmer, Agriculturist and New Entrant of the Year Awards held recently in the Western Cape, writes Glenneis Kriel.
Celebrating excellence in agricultural journalism, the Agricultural Writers Association of South Africa (AWSA) recently announced the Farmer, Agriculturist and New Entrant of the Year Awards during a gala event held near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape.
Dewald te Water of the Te Water Boerdery near Bethal in Mpumalanga won the Farmer of the Year Award. He farms maize, soya bean, oats, silage and Bovelder cattle. The silage is exported to the Middle East, and he adds value to the corn by making popcorn, chips and breakfast cereal, which is sold under his own brand.
Sophy Musabeni Litshani, who farms vegetables, won the New Entrant to Commercial Farming Award. As a child she planted spinach in her mother’s garden, and dreamt of becoming a farmer. After school, however, her mother encouraged her to rather become a nurse.
After working as a nurse for Mediclinic for a couple of years, she decided to follow her farming dream. But after three years of struggling to obtain financing, she managed to secure a 14ha plot in Mapleton, close to Vosloosrus on the East Rand.
The land had not been cultivated for years and was overgrown with weeds, but with hard work and determination, she was able to reap her first harvest in 2020. She started out planting spinach and Swiss chard, which she has since expanded to include cucurbits, green beans, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower.
Litshani’s farming operations have grown exponentially over the past two and a half years, and today she owns a company named Vhegies, which supplies fresh vegetables to surrounding communities and the Johannesburg and Springs markets. She also farms on another piece of land near Boksburg and in Limpopo. She is busy erecting a processing unit where she will be able to process and package her produce to increase its shelf life.
Dr Dirk Troskie, director of business, planning and strategy at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, won the Agriculturist of the Year Award. In his capacity at the department, he provides advice and information on strategic issues to the department and the sector, and is often referred to as the “shifting spanner” of the department.
From a research perspective, Troskie is particularly interested in the interaction between values, culture, quality, geography and farming, through, for instance, geographic indicators.
Other interests include developing agrarian economies in a globalising world, the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the context of local realities, as well as enabling responsive and responsible government.
Charl van Rooyen of Landbouweekblad was honoured as an AWSA Honorary Life President.
He has served on various AWSA committees and sub-committees for more than three decades.
Van Rooyen was elected national chairperson of the association in 1996, and again from 2000 to 2005, and served as chairperson on the executives of Agricultural Writers’ Northern, Central and Northern Cape regions.
Dewald Kirsten of Lucentlands won the BKB Photo Competition, as well as the award for the best agricultural photo.
Magda du Toit, who freelances for Farmer’s Weekly, won the Croplife South Africa AWSA Award for the best crop protection article, as well as the FNB Agricultural Communicator Award in the print division.
Engela Duvenage, co-founder of SciBraai.co.za, won the Croplife SA Agricultural Writers SA Award for biotechnology.
Ronelle Louwrens from Food for Mzanzi won the FNB Agricultural Communicator Award broadcasting division, while farmer Mbali Nwako won the digital division.
SHE PLANTED SPINACH IN HER MOTHER’S GARDEN AND DREAMT OF BEING A FARMER