Author: Charles Tjatindi (Charles Tjatindi )

It is encouraging to pen a story of a communal farmer defying all odds and doing well in the dog-eat-dog world of livestock stud farming.

Farmer Elton Gurirab who is based at |Â#gomes (|Naras), a communal area in the Erongo region near Okombahe, last week made history after fetching the highest price ever for a communal farmer at a small stock stud auction. 

The unavailability of sufficient land for traditional farming practices such as large-scale animal husbandry or crop farming has discouraged many to turn to farming.  

As a result of global warming, the planet’s climate is changing and its effect is being felt the world over. And one of the most important parameters of climate is rainfall. 

It is true that all around the world, the farming population is ageing. I recently read that the average age of a farmer in Africa is 62 years old.

The age-old debate of quantity versus quality in farming rages on, with one side of farming preferring this, and the next side preferring the other mode.

Despite its obvious benefits, the noble initiative of subsistence crop farming which enables a family to feed right off the fields, have not been successfully replicated across the country. 

This week’s AgriToday cover story of a farmer who managed to realise a longstanding dream of owning a piece of land is encouraging and an eye-opener to those who give up at the first hurdle. Perseverance. Determination. Resilience. That’s all that is needed to make it in this cut-throat, yet profitable agribusiness world.

In 2007, Elize Eliphas took a bold decision; to get dirty and muddy as opposed to following a career path that would land her a posh office job where her nails would be intact.

The story of a young man who decided to venture into agribusiness profiled elsewhere in this edition of AgriToday is inspiring.