AGRICULTURE SCHOOL FOR THABA-NCHU

By Staff Reporter

THAB-NCHU-Agripreneur Farmers’ Institute is set to open up a new institution in Thaba Nchu, Free State by the end of July. The company is based in Thaba Nchu and it was created by passionate agricultural and finance graduates.

“The company was formed to create opportunities with the skills and knowledge of Agripreneurship from board of members with passion, dedication and networking”, said Itumeleng Modise, a graduate from Universidade De Trás-os-Montes E Alto Douro in Portugal.

The company was created with the aim of making a difference by creating jobs instead of being job seekers. “We seek opportunities to create jobs with our skills and knowledge. We intend to offer standard services such as treatment, vaccinations and nutritious feeds to animals such as cattle, horses, goats and sheep and agricultural training to individuals within the field of agriculture,” Modise added.

He said the company’s decision to open an institution was influenced by the lack of agricultural skills in the areas. “We have land in Thaba Nchu that is available for farming especially in rural villages (Trusts) so we’ve realised that our people need new modern agricultural skills to farm.”

He explained that one of the main factors for the lack of agriculture skills in the area is due to most people not having requirements needed at universities and some cannot afford to travel from Thaba Nchu or get accommodation close to the universities. “We thought that it will be good if we could provide training workshops and short courses to those who are interested in farming.”

One of the reasons why they opened the institution in Thaba Nchu was because they realised how many people have suffered, especially backyard farmers and small livestock holders because of lack of skills and knowledge. “We believe that Thaba Nchu on its own is the heart of perfect farming, we just need to embrace that through Agriculture because we have land that needs to be utilised”, said Modise.

As far as preparations are concerned, Modise assured that they are in the last stages of preparations in terms of venue. “We have lots of stakeholders and the society who have come on board to support this initiative.