BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
MBABANE – The Woman Farmer of the Year Competition is still on and it promises to be an exciting one this year!
This was expressed by the Communications Officer of the Woman Farmer Foundation (WFF), when confirming that the application deadline for the Woman Farmer of the Year Competition has been extended.
According to WFF Communication Officer, Mpumalanga Zwane, the initial deadline was set for the 30th of June, 2023.
“However, the foundation has received multiple calls from women and youth farmers who were unable to return their forms on time. Thus, the applicants will be given more time to return their forms until the 31st of July. Applicants have been advised to contact the foundation’s offices on 7602 7207 to coordinate the collection of the forms as they had already retrieved most forms,” said Zwane.
“The decision to give farmers more time to return their forms is taken from our vision. Our core business is to identify, recognize, and develop a corps of model youth & women agripreneurs to mitigate rural poverty. So it matters to us that women and youth farmers be able to submit their forms so they may also be empowered through the competition,” stated the Communications Officer.
The annual competition promotes business excellence among women and youth-led businesses through promotion of a competitive spirit and desire to excel. Applicants stand a chance to receive training and partake in market access facilitation workshops alongside the prizes awarded to winners to boost their businesses. With the understanding that the young generation has a chance of evolving the agriculture sector, enhancing food security, contributing meaningfully towards ending world hunger and alleviating malnutrition, the Foundation launched a youth competition catering for 18-35 age group which was established as a youth category within the Woman Farmer of Year Competition in 2017.
The Communications Officer further shared that there have been an overwhelming number of applicants. Zwane stated that this year their goal was to increase their youth intake and they have managed to achieve that.
“We have received the highest number of youth applicants since the youth category began in 2017. This shows the excitement young people have towards the competition,” she said.
Zwane encouraged farmers to submit their forms so they may also stand a chance to win and possibly access the many other benefits that come with applying for the competition.
“The competition is a gateway to accessing platforms that can really grow one’s business. In the end, we want to see women and youth businesses succeed, giving more time to return forms,” said Zwane.
The Woman Farmer of the Year Competition, hosted by the Woman Farmer Foundation, has been an annual event since 2007. The competition is open to Eswatini rural Women and Youth involved in any agricultural enterprise throughout the country, farming for at least a year on Eswatini national land.
Those who wish to apply online may go to: https://bit.ly/m/womanfarmerprograms.
