This week on African Farming, Tony Ndoro learns all about stone fruit farming with farmer Raymond Koopstad and his team and our panel experts discuss the topic of transformation in agriculture.
Nutrition starts with the mother. If ewes or does are poorly fed while pregnant, the offspring will not grow well inside the mother; they’ll be small, weak and thin at birth which makes them far more likely to die from factors such as cold, wind, rain, starvation or disease.
Kids weighing less than 2.5kg at birth have a poor chance of survival; those weighing more than 3.5kg have a good chance. The mother, especially does that often have multiple births, needs a body condition score of at least three (BCS 3) to produce healthy offspring. If natural veld is not enough, a supplement of 300g to 500g per ewe/day, of chocolate maize or commercial supplement should be given during the last four to six weeks of pregnancy.
Apart from making the lambs bigger and stronger, the ewe’s udder will be better developed and she will have more body reserves for milk production later. This will keep the offspring strong and healthy. Check the udders before lambing. There must be two functional teats and no serious signs of mastitis, otherwise the offspring will starve.
The nutritional demands of the mother increase to more than double her normal intake after she has lambed. Unless the veld is good and there is enough bush and grass, supplement the lactating mothers with 500g/ day.
The farmer will reap the rewards of this investment with good production and plenty of large, healthy lambs to sell later. Feeding lactating ewes is essential for the first four to six weeks after lambing, when the offspring depend mainly on milk for growth and survival.
You can supplement lambs with a high-quality lick (known as creep feed), but it’s very expensive. Introduce it when the youngsters are 14 days old, or older. The creep feeder will keep costs down by preventing the mothers from eating the supplements by protecting the feed trough with a gate that only allows the tiny youngsters inside. The young animals will be ready for weaning and marketing much earlier, so the farmer will recover the costs.
After 14 days the youngsters will nibble more at grass and bush, but they cannot survive on pasture alone until they weigh at least 15kg, preferably 18kg, so keep supplementing them and don’t wean them too early. They will gradually start drinking water on their own, but it is never a substitute for milk. Proper nutrition is vital to raising healthy, productive lambs and kids.
African Farming host Tony Ndoro discusses the topic of diseases in agriculture with Praveen Dwarika, Managing Director at Afgri’s Lemang Agricultural Services, Caryn Shacklock of Afrivet and Dr Mpho Maja from the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
WHAT IS THE BEST ADVICE YOU HAVE EVER BEEN GIVEN?
If you want to do something, do it now. For example, if you see that a cow is not good, attend to it immediately rather than waiting.
IF THERE IS ONE THING YOU COULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY, WHAT WOULD IT HAVE BEEN?
I’m still in love with poultry farming, I wish I could have found a bigger poultry farm.
WHAT HAS YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST SUCCESS BEEN TO DATE?
Being disciplined has helped me transition successfully from farming poultry to farming grain.
WHO HAS MADE THE BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION TO YOUR SUCCESS?
My wife, Mandy Sadiki. She is an accountant and her input and advice have been invaluable. My parents have also given me a lot of support and allowed me space to grow in this sector.
WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP DO YOU HAVE WITH YOUR NEIGHBOURING FARMERS AND WHAT ROLE HAVE THEY PLAYED IN YOUR SUCCESS?
I have the best relationship with all my neighbouring farmers. I grew up in a village where we all depended on one another. This is what is happening here with my neighbours who are all white.
WAS IT A STRUGGLE TO GET FINANCING AND WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR ANYONE LOOKING FOR MONEY?
It was indeed a struggle and it took me years to get the finance. My advice is that when you finally get finance, set a good example and keep records.
WHAT ROLE HAVE INPUT SUPPLIERS, LIKE ANIMAL HEALTH COMPANIES, PLAYED IN THE BUSINESS?
My suppliers are very much involved in the running of the farm, especially the chemical suppliers who are always available to assist on site.
IF THERE WAS A SINGLE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU COULD GIVE THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Allocate farms to people who deserve them. Repossess farms that are not being utilised and give them to people who need them. We are sitting with tracts of unused land while food production is declining.
South Africa’s livestock farmers face disease threats at levels never encountered before as changing temperatures and high rainfall create conditions that support the growth and migration of disease-vectoring insects. Recent foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks show that ignoring biosecurity rules and moving animals illegally are making matters worse.
Biosecurity is an essential element of disease control. Disease surveillance enabling early detection followed by correct diagnoses and treatment are the key steps to maintaining herd and flock health. Animal health has far-reaching consequences for the livestock sector’s economic health, which can quickly decline when dreaded diseases break out.
The implementation and policing of proper containment measures form part of animal health maintenance and of keeping the red meat sector economically viable. Veterinary laboratories with the capacity to make accurate disease diagnoses are a vital link in the biosecurity chain, as there can be no effective treatment without reliable clinical information.
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an especially tricky disease to contain, says Afrivet’s Dr Caryn Shacklock. “It is a highly infectious viral disease that may not show symptoms, and infected animals do not need to come into contact with other animals for the virus to spread,” she explains. In the face of an FMD outbreak, everyone who visits or works on a farm needs to be aware of biosecurity.
Changing clothes when moving between farms, hosing down vehicles with appropriate viricides and confining animals to quarantined areas are some basic biosecurity steps. “This is a disease that can fly below the radar and that has a major economic impact on the country, as it affects our ability to export,” Dr Shacklock says.
Vaccination is another tool in the biosecurity toolbox – there are vaccines available to protect animals from bacterial, viral and protozoal diseases that affect animal production. Outbreaks of the dreaded disease brucellosis are becoming more widespread, even though farmers are legally obliged to vaccinate heifers when they are between four and eight months old.
The sector would benefit significantly if biosecurity was prioritised and controls effectively implemented.
To find out more, visit www.afrivet.co.za
By Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
As we mentioned last week in Part 1 (here):
“Effective mission statements balance the possible and the impossible. They give people a clear sense of the direction to profitability and the inspiration to feel they are part of something big and important.”
From Jack Welch’s book ‘Winning’ (here).
He continues in his usual direct way:
“…there is too much to lose by not getting your mission straight and
by not making your values concrete…your company will not reach anywhere near its full potential if all that is guiding it is a list of pleasant platitudes hanging on the lobby wall…Take the time. Spend the energy.
Make them real.”
Just to emphasize: “…your company will not reach anywhere near its full potential if all that is guiding it is a list of pleasant platitudes hanging on the lobby wall.”
So how do we make them real?
Looking through some of the great companies, their mission statements appear to be on another level completely and wow, they grab us and make us want to work for them, believe in them and purchase from them!
Apple (Steve Jobs): “To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind.”
Nike: “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”
Under Amour: “To make all athletes better through science, passion and the relentless pursuit of innovation.”
Google: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
FentyBeuty: “So that women everywhere would be included.” Values: “Exclude no one.”
Feel the excitement growing? The power of words! We also gave the values from Rihanna’s FentyBeauty because as Jack states, your Mission Statement is nothing without Values driving it. Mission Statement and Values – as he says: “these two terms have got to be among the most abstract, overused, misunderstood words in business…”
According to him: “A good mission statement and a good set of values are so real they smack you in the face with their concreteness.
The mission announces exactly where you are going, and the values describe the behaviors that will get you there.”
The ‘behaviors’. These are your values, but if they are not like a muscle memory, automatic and central to all you do, they will drop.
He then gives us the rule for great Mission Statements:
“An effective mission statement basically answers one
question:
How do we intend to win in this business?”
This is as he says ‘defining’. No chance of being wishy-washy there. How do you intend to win in this business.
As a reminder…Steve Jobs’ mission statement for Apple in 1980:
“To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind.”
Sticking to ‘How you plan to win in this business’ means you move away from trying to be all things to all people. Your focus increases and with it your employees’ focus too. Steve is all about ‘making tools for the mind’, not about fancy Apple Jackets or tooth mugs with Apple logos on them – ever wondered why you can’t find those? Blame Steve!
Ever the direct one, Jack’s Mission Statement was (in case you were wondering how one moves from a market capitalization of US$14 billion, to more than US$410 billion in a mere two decades):
“We were going to be “the most competitive enterprise in the world” by being No. 1 or No. 2 in every market – fixing, selling, or closing every underperforming business that couldn’t get there.”
…and no prizes for guessing…close these underperforming business units he did! But at least everyone knew where they stood.
Would the great Jack Welch be so successful in the 21st Century as he was in the 20th, as we move away from Milton Friedman’s “shareholder value” doctrine (here from the FT)? Who knows, we are children of our time, but we are all, even today, in business to win – although not at all costs. Even Jack points out that to have ‘Integrity’ as a Value is meaningless as this is simply a ticket to the game, every self respecting business has that as a Value – if you do not have that, then get off the park… business is not for you.
As Steve says: “Marketing is about values. It’s a complicated and noisy world, and we’re not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is. So we have to be really clear about what we want them to know about us.”
“Customers relate to brands and the values it stands for more than the tangible aspects of the product.”
— Richard Branson.
Do Values have to be deep and meaningful?
Bank One has as one of their Values: “Don’t forget to say thank you.”
Many retailers have the Behavior that if a customer asks them where such and such a product is, ‘we walk the customer there…’.
This is not rocket science (and certainly not ‘deep and meaningful’), but they have to be Values/Behaviors that your employees get behind and recognize (so they have to have a large input into the process of drawing these up – unlike the Mission Statement which is the domain of those who will be fired if they don’t drive the company there, i.e. the C-Suite).
If your Values disconnect from your Mission Statement then bad things happen. Jack uses the example of Arthur Anderson (one of the Big 5 Accounting Firms) in the 1990’s, whose consulting division became too powerful and therefore pulled away from their Mission and Values as they chased the big deals – the killer blow being the collapse of Enron (Anderson too went spectacularly bust with thousands losing their jobs and millions sucked out of pension investments – tragic). These days? If there is one thing that history teaches us, it’s that we don’t learn from history…(sadly true if you think about it).
Your Values and Behaviors are absolutely essential to ground you, your employees and your company as you move towards fulfilling your Mission Statement. To fulfill this, all have to believe, all have to eat, breathe and even dream these Values, if not then believe us, you will reap what you sow as cracks appear.
Obviously Arthur Anderson and Enron were extreme and we’re not suggesting all is lost if one employee doesn’t say ‘Thank You’, but as Jack said, “…your company will not reach anywhere near its full potential if all that is guiding it is a list of pleasant platitudes hanging on the lobby wall.” – how sad is that after all your hard work, dedication and sleepless nights.
So let us build our companies the right way, let us create our Mission Statement to balance ‘the possible and the impossible’. Let us give people a clear sense of the direction to profitability and the inspiration to feel they are part of something big and important. Then strengthen and bolt it down with the company’s Values and Behaviors.
That is how we survive in uncertain times, that is how we thrive when other businesses are being dragged down; that is how we shoot the lights out and pull away from the pack when economies turn and start growing again; and that is how we truly discover and believe the ‘Why’ behind what we do. As Simon Sinek said about your Why in our Part 1 (here) – “Your purpose, your cause, your belief. Why does your organisation exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning and why should anyone care?”
Now is not the time to be shy – shout it from the rooftop!
Stay safe.
What inspired you to start your company?
At the end of August 2019, before we knew what the world would become with Corona, my friend and now business partner and I were discussing the difficulties people must sometimes go through to get help (for many reasons) and the desperation this causes. We are from a small town and understand this first-hand due to limited resources and professionals. This led to the thought process of making healthcare more accessible.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Our business is unique and special in that it is making healthcare, in all its forms, accessible and easy to use. It is a one-stop shop for all things mind, body and wellness, without even having to leave your home and without any stigma attached. Our Goal is to make healthcare a norm for everyone, easy and accessible to anyone.
Our Heart is seeing people’s lives transformed! Making peace and joy the aim for everyone.
Our Hope is to highlight the value of wellness over illness and that there is strength in reaching out for help, even when we don’t think we need it.
Our Why is… people!
Tell us a little about your team
Jess Mostert is my business partner, but first my friend. She has a special ability to see the goodness in people’s hearts and has a knack for making people feel as if they are the only ones who matter. She cares about seeing people whole and healthy. She also has this incredible ability to be efficient, punctual, upstanding and honest. She is not only good with people and has her honours in Psychology, but she is also excellent in business and administration.
I am Stacey Spilsbury, I have a passion for people and find myself in the same situation as Jess, in that people love to share their lives, stories and problems with me. I love to listen and to be a helping hand when needed. I have a diploma in business management and marketing as well as a Career Guidance Counsellor with Career Direct.
We then employ (part time) both IT Developers, IT Specialists, Digital Marketers and SEO Specialists.
The most crucial part of the team are the many Healthcare Specialists. They work for themselves under the Connectable Life banner. We purely run the platform, giving them the opportunity to find and consult with clients.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I love all things entrepreneurial and creative. Both my husband and I own and run our own business. Both of us come from a long line of entrepreneurs and business owners. It is in my blood. My father is a successful business man and commercial property owner, I am blessed to have been guided and encouraged by him to follow my dreams and passions. The aspect I have always been most grateful to my parents for is their encouragement of me and their faith that I have got what it takes to be a business woman. They have always let me know that, ‘If I want it, I can get it. It just means working hard.’
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
Our hope for Connectable Life is that it will be a thriving business where people may find the Mind, Body and Wellness Healthcare help they are looking for and need. A massive aspiration is get Connectable Life connected with the corporate world. To get us aligned with other business and companies, instituting employee wellness is a growing and crucial facility in larger corporations and we would love to make the transition easy for everyone. Companies can use the facilities of Connectable Life without having any of the labour or startup hassles and costs involved. Caring for their employees through our easy to use, efficient and convenient platform. We have it, already set up, ready to use.
What does your company do?
Woven Link Africa is a Kenyan registered training and consulting business whose key focus is to elevate young people’s talents and the integration of technology into youth programs that create entrepreneurship and employment opportunities. Woven Link Africa believes in elevating young people’s talents and nurturing youth programs that re-connect vocational education, entrepreneurship, and employability. Also, provide all youth with greater opportunities for entrepreneurship employment and uptake of technology solutions. The Woven Link Africa business model is 80% for profit and 20% social enterprise that focuses on five actors. The model enables the business to fund the social enterprise activities through profits which is key for sustainability for social impact.
(a) Youth led enterprises or organizations
(b) Enterprises or organizations with a larger percentage of youth staff
(c) Organizations that provide products and services for youth
(d) Regulatory institutions
(e) Financial institutions and Sacco/credit unions
What inspired you to start your company?
After working as a creative technologist, hybrid freelance professional for 18 years with a key focus on integration innovation and strategy in my combined expertise of Skills Development Expert, Educator, Entrepreneur, Project, and Programs Management, it was time to achieve my goal of institutionalizing my experience, knowledge, and skills.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
We elevate the product and service offering capacity for institutions, private sector and individuals that provide solutions to create employment and self-employment opportunities. Woven Link Africa draws its inspiration from quality woven cloth that is able to withstand considerable wash and wear from interlocking quality yarn. We believe the interlocking linkage of quality vocational; entrepreneurship, employability and integration of technology provides youth human capital that is innovative, resilient self-motivated and agents for change.
Tell us a little about your team
I have a virtual team of trainers and consultants who I collaborate with on assignments on a needs basis. I am currently the only full-time staff member. However, the beauty of the virtual team is they also contribute to product development and are my think tank in reviewing our offerings and in the development of strategy.
Speaking about what makes Preposal different in the marketplace, Lucinda says:
“After spending over nine years in the jewelry industry from starting my own jewelry line and brand to designing for other international brands as well as leading a USA jewelry company from B2B to B2C. I noticed the same questions from clients with the same issues arising over and over. I wanted to see a change in the industry that would benifit all and realized I needed to take the industry by the horns and make this change happen. It’s the only service of its kind. It’s the moments before the proposal. The pre – posal. Hence the name; Preposal. I noticed there was a breakdown in communication when women were sharing what they wanted for their engagement rings with their partners and what their partners were asking the jeweler for. I quickly narrowed it down to terminology. Naturally, if you don’t know what it’s called ( claw shapes, setting styles, stone cuts) you can’t ask for it correctly. I also wanted to equip the partner so they could have the confidence to ask the jeweler for exactly what they wanted and feel more in control of the purchasing process. So it’s basically Pinterest for engagement rings. A one – page doc ‘ cheat sheet’ with all the information about the dream ring ( ring size included! Don’t even get me started on that hack) I wanted to allow people to wear their dream ring from the moment they say Yes. Some people don’t know that any small change comes at a cost and sometimes the whole ring needs to be remade. You can imagine how frustrating that is after you have just spent a large sum of money and need to spend 40% more. There is no option to add stone size or metal carat as this is fully determined by the partners budget. So I thought about it from both sides to meet everyone’s needs. After all, it’s the start of a beautiful partnership!”
Speaking about the newly launched Preposal platform, Lucinda says:
“Preposal is about streamlining the engagement ring buying process and equipping the person proposing with the knowledge and terminology to make a confident purchase. The proposal itself becomes a surprise again, too, rather than going ring-shopping as a couple, which can take the romance and spontaneity out of everything. But at the same time, your partner doesn’t have the stress of trying to secretly gather information – which usually leads to getting it wrong. And when you do say ‘yes!’, you can wear your dream ring immediately. It’ll be exactly what you want without having to change anything and, importantly, it’ll be the right size – imagine, after the excitement of being proposed to, you can’t even wear your ring because it’s too big or, worse, too small.”
Born on September 5, 1978, in Luanda, Angola, where she grew up, Paula de Morais graduated in Marketing Management and completed post-graduate studies in Brands Strategic Management in Portugal. Being an art collector, she attended the Floral Arts course in Portugal and the Plastic Arts course in Brazil. She is a member of The Obama Foundation Leaders: Africa program, having participated in 2019 in the leadership development program as The Obama Foundation Leaders Africa: Luanda. She is part of the WIA54 Africa 2020 program, with the Women In Africa (WIA) Initiative. She won the Merit and Excellence Award in 2020, from ZAP TV – ZAP Globes. In 2016, she founded the Ana Carolina Foundation, of which she is currently President. Paula C. de Morais started her career in the IT sector in Luanda, where she had the opportunity to deepen her skills and knowledge linked to management and to customer relationship. Working in the banking area, she developed, in a very significant way, her hard and soft skills in the administration, management and marketing areas. These skills made an enormous contribution to her success in the business area in which she would come to invest.
Lioness Weekender spoke to the truly inspirational Paula de Morais about her journey to becoming a game-changing entrepreneur in the field of physical and mental rehabilitation in her country and her aspirations for the future.
When did your start your business?:
The first Centro de Fisioterapia Ana Carolina in Angola opened in 2014, and in August 2020 I opened the second centre in downtown Luanda. Today, the business employs 49 people.
What does your company do?
Ana Carolina Physiotherapy Centres (www.centroanacarolina.co.ao), in downtown Luanda and Benfica neighbourhood, provide services of excellence in physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, consultations, occupational therapy, speech therapy and other treatments. We focus on user satisfaction through the multidisciplinary offer in the physical and mental rehabilitation area, the bet on technology, the qualified professionals, and humanized care.
What inspired you to start your company?
With the birth of my daughter, Ana Carolina, in 2010, I was forced to stop working. Ana Carolina born with a neurological health disease and required constant care. This problem prevented her from having a normal life, due to long periods of hospitalization, frequent visits to doctors, and successive treatments, which motivated us to leave Angola in search for solutions. I spent four years traveling between Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Portugal, searching for medical specialists, treatments, and answers, and observing and learning how best practices are developed in the areas of treatment that she needed. So, we decided to return to Angola because there she was in a more stable condition and, thus, could enjoy the family closeness. Based on the significant learning obtained until then and being faced with the need to have solutions at the level of the therapies my daughter and other children in similar conditions, me and my family decided to open the clinic.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Beside all the investment we did, equipment and infrastructure, I know from experience that health professionals and all people that work in health sector, with child or seniors, need to have extra care, empathy and responsibility. We are people that take care of people.
Tell us a little about your team
Our team consists mainly of Angolans, has mainly women in the leadership team, and health professionals committed to changing the paradigm of health services in Angola.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I’ve always wanted to open a business since I was young. My first business was in 2007, a store selling gifts and magazines. When I opened the first clinic I had to choose to abandon the other businesses that I had given the responsibility that the clinic implied. I’ve always been close to entrepreneurial women like my mother and aunts who, even though they had their jobs, sold cookies to co-workers made at home. Maybe that’s why I did marketing management and a postgraduate degree in brand management, and as soon as I could, I opened my company.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
We intend to deliver more and more quality in health services. I am thinking of expanding the clinics at this time to include more services such as diagnostics and others that still need to be offered in the Luanda market. Then why not have a unit in each province of the country and perhaps in Africa?
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
To be able to serve others, to improve as a person, and to contribute to a better Angola.
What’s the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Love what you do and trust the process.
To find out more about Paula de Morais’ work at the Centro de Fisioterapia Ana Carolina, send her an email to admin@centroanacarolina.co.ao or visit the company’s website and social media platforms: