Following his dream of farming
Thirteen years after resigning from his full-time job, Elia Kamati is making a good living from his Kavango West farm.
09 December 2020 | Agriculture
STAFF REPORTER
WINDHOEK
Elia Kamati, a loan beneficiary of Agribank’s Emerging Farmers Retail Financing Product, quit his formal job several years ago and is now following his dream of being a fulltime farmer.
He is currently a farming with cattle and goats in the Mpungu district of the Kavango West Region.
“I was a permanent employee for one of the insurance companies for 15 years and in 2007 I resigned from my full-time job to concentrate on my dream and passion, which is farming, and now I am a full-time farmer,” Kamati says.
Through the loan from Agribank, he bought 38 heifers and two bulls to form his core herd.
He says one of the challenges he faced was a lack of farming skills. However, he attended Agribank’s training events and workshops, which taught him valuable skills and enabled him to thrive in his farming business.
Kamati also highlights the lack of a market to sell his livestock as a problem.
“Lack of a market to sell our livestock is a challenge for us here in the Kavango West Region. We only have African Meat Supply company as our main customer and few individuals. So, we really need a big market to sell our animals,” he says.
According to him, the income from the farm has enabled him to send his children and grandchild to private schools and improved his living standards.
Kamati has five permanent employees on the farm and from time to time he recruits between 10 and 15 casual workers.
“Farming has really improved my way of living. I have acquired a lot of things: I have a tractor, I have cars and many other things that I acquired just through my agriculture business,” he says.
WINDHOEK
Elia Kamati, a loan beneficiary of Agribank’s Emerging Farmers Retail Financing Product, quit his formal job several years ago and is now following his dream of being a fulltime farmer.
He is currently a farming with cattle and goats in the Mpungu district of the Kavango West Region.
“I was a permanent employee for one of the insurance companies for 15 years and in 2007 I resigned from my full-time job to concentrate on my dream and passion, which is farming, and now I am a full-time farmer,” Kamati says.
Through the loan from Agribank, he bought 38 heifers and two bulls to form his core herd.
He says one of the challenges he faced was a lack of farming skills. However, he attended Agribank’s training events and workshops, which taught him valuable skills and enabled him to thrive in his farming business.
Kamati also highlights the lack of a market to sell his livestock as a problem.
“Lack of a market to sell our livestock is a challenge for us here in the Kavango West Region. We only have African Meat Supply company as our main customer and few individuals. So, we really need a big market to sell our animals,” he says.
According to him, the income from the farm has enabled him to send his children and grandchild to private schools and improved his living standards.
Kamati has five permanent employees on the farm and from time to time he recruits between 10 and 15 casual workers.
“Farming has really improved my way of living. I have acquired a lot of things: I have a tractor, I have cars and many other things that I acquired just through my agriculture business,” he says.
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