An aspiring young farmer, who has been entering a competition without winning for the past three years, has become the toast of his municipality after winning the Young Aspirant Farmer competition in the Vhembe District.

Hardworking and youthful livestock farmer Stephen Ravele has been entering the competition for the past three years without winning anything and the nearest he came to winning was when he became runner-up. This did not discourage him from working hard to improve his farm and livestock and he took his mistakes as a learning curve to improve his farm.

This is paying handsomely as today he boasts 45 heads of Brahman cattle, which makes him one of the promising young farmers in the province. This week he scooped the first prize during the Vhembe District Young Aspiring Farmer of the year competition and he will represent the district provincially.

The function to cap all the deserving young farmers was held at the Thohoyandou Arts and Culture Centre last Friday morning. This is no mean feat for a young farmer who did not look back or give up after failing to make the grade for three years.

Ms Busisiwe Shivhambo, district spokesperson in the department, said the competition sought to encourage young people to be involved in agriculture. She said there was a trend in this country that agriculture was for the aged and not for the youth, who opted for white-collar jobs. “There is a lot of money in agriculture and we are trying to lure our youth into this field. This is a succession plan because the aged pass on and we might be left with no food producers. There would be no food security, so we are planning in time for the future,” she said.

Speaking during the event, the mayor of Thulamela, Khosi Vho Thivhulawi Makumbane, said it was good that the competition coincided with the soccer world cup and youth month celebrations. He said the youth should be encouraged to participate in agriculture in order to ensure food security in the country.

Ravele said it was only through hard work and dedication that he had gone this far. He said as young people they always wished for everything to pay dividends fast, which is not the case in farming. “I never thought I would ever make it in farming, but with the support I am getting from my family and NERPO, I do see some light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.