05 Nov 2015

The passion and determination of Mr Moemedi Jappi of Tonota to become a farmer has helped him ignore the amount of hours spent in pursuit of his dream. His love for farming started when he was a little boy growing up in Tonota, when he would follow his grandfather, Mr Boy Jappi to the farm in Bonwantsa.

Such visits fascinated him and it appears he inherited the passion for farming from his grandfather who was a hardworking farmer.

Speaking in an interview, the 39-year-old Mr Jappi said whilst doing his secondary school education at Rutwang Junior School, he liked only one subject, agriculture.

“Because of my love for farming, I was one of the best students when it came to making plots at Rutwang and my plot was always according to the way the teacher wanted it,” he said.

One day, while looking for a job and could not find one, he decided to buy seeds and plough water melons, spinach, chomolia and potatoes in his own backyard. 

The result was that this yard was beautiful that when the poverty eradication officials passed-by, it caught their eye. He said the officials invited him to their offices to discuss with him on how they could help him make the garden even better.

He was given a Jojo water tank with bricks to support it, a net for his vegetables, gum poles and a hose pipe. 

He then bought more seeds and garden tools and intends selling his produce to individuals, shops and schools.

The man has a bigger farm that he would like to use but due to financial constraints, he cannot relocate because there is no water, but if he can manage to get finances, his dreams will come true.

Mr Jappi said farming requires patience as they face challenges that can make one to give up easily. Some of the challenges that he faces are pests that eat his vegetables and thus makes leaves to wilt. 

He said he also struggles financially as he often has no money to buy seeds, but is thankful to the poverty eradication officials who helped him to purchase them.

Mr Jappi encouraged the youth to be self employed and not to wait for the government to provide them with jobs. ‘

“When you have a garden, you will never sleep on an empty stomach as you can sell your produce and buy whatever you may need to survive,” he concluded. Ends