Empowerment

In a world of decreasing farm margins, every hectare, every input, and every rand invested must earn its place. This is the philosophy that guides Anton Pelser, the Agri Mpumalanga Young Farmer of the Year 2026. He spoke to Lindi Botha about the data, discipline, and long-term thinking that guides every decision.

Just over two years after entering the industry, Mecia Petersen was appointed CEO of the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI). She spoke to Glenneis Kriel about taking a chance, growing into leadership, and why women should not wait until they feel completely ready to pursue an opportunity.

History is full of women who have played crucial and pioneering roles in science, overcoming various barriers to contribute to discoveries and innovations across disciplines. Not all of them are equally known, but someone who deserves to be a household name is Dr Renée Prins, Founding Director CenGen Pty Ltd.

From launching livestock genomics initiatives, to mentoring future scientists, to becoming the first female Head of Department of Animal Science at the University of Pretoria (UP), to leading the South African Society for Animal Science (SASAS), Prof Esté van Marle-Köster’s journey in the agriculture sector has been nothing short of inspirational.

Women and young agricultural entrepreneurs from across Gauteng were recognised at River Meadow Manor in Irene on 14 August 2026 during the Gauteng Women Entrepreneurs Awards and Youth Entrepreneurs Awards. The awards highlight value creation, mentorship and wider participation in the agricultural economy.

In a free market environment, planning is crucial. To make planning possible, official, reliable, accurate, credible, objective and timely crop forecasts are essential to keep the market working. This is where Rona Beukes, a senior statistician in Crop Estimates and Agricultural Statistics in the Directorate: Statistics and Economic Analysis at the Department of Agriculture, has carved a name for herself.

After the closure of Roodeplaat Research Laboratories in 1994, where Karen Nel worked as a biochemist, she, along with two colleagues, founded a vaccine-manufacturing business called Design Biologix.

Mohair Empowerment Trust manager Beauty Mokgwamme spoke to Octavia Avesca Spandiel about her remarkable journey from humble beginnings to empowering emerging farmers to become commercially viable, thereby transforming lives through agriculture.

From growing up in a small Northern Cape town to becoming a pioneering scientist, Dr Marinda Visser expanded her horizons to lead vital national research partnerships, championing biosecurity and mentoring agriculture’s next wave of leaders.

a farm with little more than a single rondavel on it. Today, that property has become Kilima Horned Heritage, a diversified enterprise built around wildlife, tourism and livestock. Henning Naudé spoke to her about building Kilima, learning about an unfamiliar industry, and finding her place as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated sector.

For Fruit South Africa CEO Fhumulani Ratshitanga, leadership isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room. It’s about listening carefully enough to bring different voices together. She spoke to Farmer’s Weekly about the experiences that’ve shaped her leadership, and why trust is the foundation of progress.

By placing training, mentorship, and practical skills at its core, the Mathuba Farming Academy in the village of Ha-Ravele, near Makhado in Limpopo, is equipping farmers to build productive, sustainable, and commercially viable enterprises.

In family farming businesses, the hardest decisions are often about people, not production. At Bergrivier Besproeiing’s ‘Passion for your Farming’ farmers’ day in Paarl, Western Cape, three established farming families shared what it takes to keep both the business and the relationships intact across generations.

At the Madibeng Agri Youth Day on 23 June in Brits, North West, young people were encouraged not to wait for access to land, funding, or government grants before entering the agriculture sector but to instead build their businesses step by step.

Four years after its launch, a R600 million fund born from a corporate acquisition is transforming the lives of black farmers across the Eastern and Northern Cape.

Village business units registered as commercial agricultural ventures are transforming Zimbabwe’s rural landscape, long associated with subsistence farming.

A group of Kenyan smallholder women farmers are transforming the country’s high-value coffee sector by pooling their resources.

The National School Nutrition Programme feeds more than nine million school children every day and remains one of South Africa’s most meaningful interventions for supporting learning and reducing hunger. But with strategic partnerships, the programme could do far more, strengthening childhood nutrition while helping to drive transformation across the agriculture sector.

A day in the life of rural veterinarian Dr Suenette Kotze reveals how South Africa’s food chain is supported by a small group of overworked professionals who balance animal welfare, farmer support, and personal sacrifice across vast farming landscapes.

For the past two decades, the Anna Foundation has been transforming the lives of rural children and their communities, growing from a single after-school centre into a network of programmes across the Western Cape.