Farming 'is not a get-rich-quick scheme'

Koketso Baloyi Mofokeng started full-time farming in 2018 after encouragement from her husband, Katiso. Despite facing many challenges, the young photographer-turned-farmer remains passionate about the cabbage, green beans, peppers and spinach she produces

- Siyanda Sishuba

Koketso Baloyi Mofokeng, the owner of Diatla Tshweu Farming, was born and raised on a farm in De Wildt, North West, not far from Ga-Rankuwa, near Pretoria. Her maternal grandmother, Agnes Makhanane Baloyi, was a farmworker here for 37 years. Mofokeng was raised by her grandmother after her mother’s untimely passing when she was still a child.

Growing up on the farm, the young Mofokeng was given many responsibilities, including assisting with fertilising the crops. This helped to lay some of the groundwork for her later full-time farming career, which took off in 2018, and today she produces cabbage, green beans, green peppers, and spinach.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Before going into farming, however, she had a stint as photographer. “I started photography in the 10th grade to make money for tuition and to look after myself and my son,” she recalls. After school, she studied photography at the Tshwane University of Technology, and went on to work for herself, photographing social events such as weddings and birthdays, and in 2013 even started her own studio with the help of her aunt, Tebogo Tseka.

However, she became unhappy in this profession, and admits that she did not enjoy “the photography world”.

Nonetheless, when she began farming, she continued her photography career as a side hustle to help improve her cash flow.

ENCOURAGEMENT