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Winners know when to shine. Here they are seen showing off the fruits of their labour during the awards ceremony. Sharing their moment of glory are guests and officials from the department.

Recognition for disabled farmers

 

Disabled farmers in the Vhembe district have have been complaining for ages about being marginalized when it comes to farming competitions.

The farmers finally got their day when a competition was held to recognize their work. They were awarded certificates and cash prizes during the People Living with Disability in Agriculture and Rural Development Awards 2016/17. The ceremony, the first of its kind in the country, took place at the Thohoyandou Indoor Sports Centre last Thursday.

Awards were made in the categories of backyard, schools, formal and informal farming. The three winners in each category took home prizes from R3 000 to R5 000.

The coordinator of the awards, Mr Hollick Netshirungulu, an agricultural advisor in Vhembe, said that they had received complaints from disabled people since 2009. "Our department did not leave the complaints lying down, but through our transformation directorate’s special programmes we started with the planning of guidelines, which were completed this year, hence the competition," he said.

Netshirungulu further said the competition would identify and encourage disabled farmers to participate fully in the economic mainstream of the country. "We are happy as a department that at our first try, we received lots of entries, and though the standard was not that high, it is mainly because of the drought.”

Ms Eunice Mabasa, acting director of the department in Vhembe, urged the farmers to regard their work as businesses and pledged further support for the farmers.

One of the winners, businessman Chillboy Rathando (38) of Rathando Farming and Pest Control, said it had been an uphill struggle for them as disabled farmers to be recognized. "We have been marginalized for a long time and we are happy that the department came to its senses and recognized us. We are very motivated and empowered and the awards will steer us to work even harder and participate in the economy of the country," he said.

Rathando further indicated that, as a result of the competition, many of the disabled farmers would come out of their cocoons and shine.

News - Date: 04 December 2016

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Proud and hardworking Chillboy Rathando receives his award from the acting director in the Department of Agriculture in Vhembe, Ms Eunice Mabasa, during the ceremony.

 

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Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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