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FOOD

SECURITY

AT

THE CENTRE

OF

SIMISO’S

BEING

Each day Simiso Mathonsi works hard to feed his

love for farming and all things agricultural. This is a

love he has had from a young age, watching his late

grandmother growing her own crops which he would

harvest and sell to the local community. Simiso is

very aware of the problem of food security in South

Africa, which is caused by the growing population as

well as unforeseen challenges such as the COVID-19

pandemic. This avid agriculturalist thinks a mindshift

post COVID-19 is a necessity. He believes that a

permanent solution to tackle challenges of hunger

and poverty in South Africa will be for the country to

produce its own food.

“I

have had the privilege to travel to China and

visited the Demonstration Centre of China-South

Africa, Agricultural Technology Station. One

lesson I learnt was that South Africa is behind

with technology and is missing out on innovative agriculture.

To meet the huge demand for food, we need to adopt

modern technology to meet this growing demand like other

countries,” said Simiso.

Being selected to participate in the National Science Week

as a student at MUT was a life-changing opportunity for

Simiso. It was at that time that he realised he had chosen

a career he loved and wanted to grow in. He acknowledges

that the little opportunities provided by MUT outside the

lecture room confirmed his belief in the potential of farming to

change people’s lives.

Simiso is currently working on a poultry project in Mandeni,

northern KwaZulu-Natal. He designed the project to make

a difference to the local community. Besides creating job

opportunities, he aims to transfer skills to people who are

interested in farming and agriculture-related value chain

activities. Having realised that many people struggle to

develop sound business plans and write funding and

partnership proposals, he will use his skill set to develop his

community in this area.

To meet the huge demand for food, we need to adopt modern technology

to meet this growing demand like other countries.

M U T A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E

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