Various women entrepreneurs in the Agriculture sector were this week honoured for their contributions towards ensuring food security, poverty alleviation and job creation at an awards ceremony in Cape Town.
With sponsorship from big companies, the department hosted both young and old women, including those living with disabilities.
The women were also honoured for contributing towards economic growth in the agriculture sector.
We congratulate Limpopo women farmers for winning first prizes at national DAFF Female Entrepreneur Awards, Mme Jarita Mabula and Mme Lungisile Makgamatho, in the categories of commercial and smallholder producers, respectively. Mme Mabula is also an overall winner nationally ? pic.twitter.com/5HGgWZLnbQ
— Jacqui Maisela (@MaiselaJacqui) August 30, 2019
The annual Female Entrepreneur Awards have been running for the past 20 years and nominees came from all corners of the country and they competed in ten different categories.
“We wanted to deal with the negative narrative that was prevailing in our society that women can’t farm. Secondly we wanted to attract more women to come to the sector and see agriculture as a business, not a matter for retirement but you can make a living out of it,” says Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza.
Amongst the inspirational women was hearing-impaired contestant, Victoria Matebogo Mouwane, who won the ministerial award for Female Entrepreneur
Living with Disability for her vegetable production, Mouwane took home a R100 0000 prize.
The biggest winner was Jarita Mabula from Limpopo province.
Her egg production business won the Top Entrepreneur Commercial Award and she took home R300 000.
The winner of Top Commercial Entrepreneur category and the overall winner at #FEA2019 is Mmathoko Jarita Mabula from Limpopo Province #FEA20thYear pic.twitter.com/X1ZsTdzyWW
— Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries ZA (@DAFF_ZA) August 29, 2019
