A mother putting food on the country's table

The entrepreneur and CEO of Farmers Hope, Tebogo Nyathela, is creating jobs and upskilling workers through sustainable farming practices on her farm in Kgomokgomo, North West.

- TEBOGO NYATHELA

Tebogo founded Farmers Hope with the desire to put good, nutritious food on the table of ordinary South Africans. Not content with just sustainable farming, Tebogo has ensured that the farm also practises sustainability when it comes to its employees.

Over the last nine years, Tebogo has transformed Farmers Hope into a fully-fledged farming initiative, which has empowered her community by fostering collaborations, with a particular emphasis on upskilling women.

After earning a BTech degree in marketing from the Tshwane University of Technology, Tebogo worked for various corporates such as FNB and Old Mutual, but it was in 2016, after a passion project saw her grow and donate vegetables to a few families in her community, that she decided it was time for a change.

The idea of a career change was daunting and Tebogo is frank about its challenges.

"It was not easy at all, especially after resigning, because you can imagine if you were comfortable with a certain salary and then suddenly you have no security blanket. I had so many challenges, but I decided to be persistent, and I can say thanks to my family because they understood my challenges."