Staff Writer
Elia Kamati, a loan beneficiary of Agribank’s Emerging Farmers Retail Financing Product (ERFP), left his formal employment to live his passion, which is farming.
He is currently a full-time farmer in the Mpungu district of the Kavango-West region, where he farms with livestock, cattle and goats.
“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 am a full-time farmer,” Kamati narrated.
Through the ERFP loan from Agribank, Kamati bought 38 heifers and two bulls, which enabled
him to officially start with his farming business.
He said one of the challenges he faced, was the lack of farming skills.
He, however, attended Agribank’s training events and workshops that equipped him with skills on rearing livestock and enabled him to thrive in his farming business.
Kamati also highlighted the lack of a market to sell his livestock as one of the challenges.
“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 said.
According to him, the income from the farm has enabled him to send his children and grandchild to attend private schools as well as to improve his living standard. In addition, Kamati has five permanent employees on the farm and from time to time he recruits between 10 to 15 casual employees.
“Farming have 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 that I am currently doing,” he concluded
