By Thoboloko Ntšonyane
MASERU – Technology has enabled both big and small businesses to improve efficiency and improved quality of goods and services.
According to the World Economic Forum, increasing the digitization of agriculture improves the overall efficiency of the entire food system.
Informative Newspaper recently interviewed the founder and Managing Director at JuliGerm, Qoane Mothibeli.
JuliGerm is an eco-farming, technological innovation business that had been infused with technological innovation and it centralises the vegetable farming value chain in Lesotho. They want their footprint to cover the whole of Africa.
“In its simplest terms, the idea is to centralize vegetable farming through technological advances throughout the whole value chain by building a network of youth farmers tasked with perfecting one type of vegetable.
“I actually, in general, have a love for innovation and entrepreneurship, this did not just fall on me, and it is something I have a deep passion for,” he said
JuliGerm handles the processing of the vegetable, selling, and other logistics involved in the value chain. Not only do they want to address the employment challenge in the country but also want to counter the vegetable importation happening in the country to keep the money circulating in the country.
He went on to show that the response has been welcoming.
Mothibeli said they had also had their fair share of challenges which one he said was making the whole idea make sense to our stakeholders but “we are getting there”. He continued: “We do have a lot planned out, our mission statement is that of nothing less than a decade. We are looking into agri-estate, agri-finance, and exotic exportation as expansion plans for the future.” I think in terms of sad moments since we are still a very new company, not a lot of them have come our way but I could say, the lack of sufficient data from our government concerning agricultural produce has set us back a bit and in overcoming all that, we decided to just do it ourselves.
Resilience is one factor that kept them afloat. He said he does not subscribe to the idea of giving up on anything of value, adding that life is not that easy, saying he is naturally a resilient person. Business is not as easy as made out seems, it is a very gruesome and harsh world, and the only way to beat the tide is by being resilient, that is how every entrepreneur we see great today survived, the passionate Mothibeli has said.
As the new kid in the innovative farming business, he said they had not had it easy, he also decried what he called, the lack of sufficient data from our government concerning agricultural produce, saying it has set them back a bit and in overcoming all that, they then decided to just do it themselves.
Winning the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) (Idea stage) Mothibeli, who is also a public speaker and an entrepreneurial thought leader has described this experience as one of his highlights vowing to “forever hold dear, remembering the hard work it took to make everything make sense”.
The other feat his business has registered he said was winning regional awards under the Southern Africa Community Development (SADC ) Innovation and Investment Challenge in 2020 and also selling their first product in 2022.
The proud eco-farming business owner said it is a defining moment for them to “start”. “Entrepreneurs are the backbone of the country’s economy,” he stressed. He pointed out that as entrepreneurs, they want inclusion, saying they cannot be required to go through the same process as big corporations.
The JuliGerm founder said he cherries the idea of having successfully mounted the food establishment.
He appeals to the government to secure a revolving funding opportunity for start-ups in the country as well as encourage more entrepreneurship.
He also added that to complement the conducive environment for entrepreneurship, the government has to invest in building the enabling infrastructures as well as roads and communications infrastructure for good internet services.
Asked how he feels and how prepared he is about the incoming completion he will be participating in Singapore next month, Mothibeli said is “more than ready” to meet the world in Singapore, the opportunity he said will challenge him to navigate and appreciate the international standards.
“Our future plans as a company are just to ignite the spirit of Basotho youth in daring the narrative we are fed. To build a sustainable business that not only serves the nation but saves our agri-value-chain,” he said.
How agriprenuers use technology to enhance production
Thoboloko Ntšonyane
MASERU – Technology has enabled both big and small businesses to improve efficiency and improved quality of goods and services.
According to the World Economic Forum, increasing the digitization of agriculture improves the overall efficiency of the entire food system.
Informative Newspaper recently interviewed the founder and Managing Director at JuliGerm, Qoane Mothibeli.
JuliGerm is an eco-farming, technological innovation business that had been infused with technological innovation and it centralises the vegetable farming value chain in Lesotho. They want their footprint to cover the whole of Africa.
“In its simplest terms, the idea is to centralize vegetable farming through technological advances throughout the whole value chain by building a network of youth farmers tasked with perfecting one type of vegetable.
“I actually, in general, have a love for innovation and entrepreneurship, this did not just fall on me, and it is something I have a deep passion for,” he said
JuliGerm handles the processing of the vegetable, selling, and other logistics involved in the value chain. Not only do they want to address the employment challenge in the country but also want to counter the vegetable importation happening in the country to keep the money circulating in the country.
He went on to show that the response has been welcoming.
Mothibeli said they had also had their fair share of challenges which one he said was making the whole idea make sense to our stakeholders but “we are getting there”. He continued: “We do have a lot planned out, our mission statement is that of nothing less than a decade. We are looking into agri-estate, agri-finance, and exotic exportation as expansion plans for the future.” I think in terms of sad moments since we are still a very new company, not a lot of them have come our way but I could say, the lack of sufficient data from our government concerning agricultural produce has set us back a bit and in overcoming all that, we decided to just do it ourselves.
Resilience is one factor that kept them afloat. He said he does not subscribe to the idea of giving up on anything of value, adding that life is not that easy, saying he is naturally a resilient person. Business is not as easy as made out seems, it is a very gruesome and harsh world, and the only way to beat the tide is by being resilient, that is how every entrepreneur we see great today survived, the passionate Mothibeli has said.
As the new kid in the innovative farming business, he said they had not had it easy, he also decried what he called, the lack of sufficient data from our government concerning agricultural produce, saying it has set them back a bit and in overcoming all that, they then decided to just do it themselves.
Winning the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) (Idea stage) Mothibeli, who is also a public speaker and an entrepreneurial thought leader has described this experience as one of his highlights vowing to “forever hold dear, remembering the hard work it took to make everything make sense”.
The other feat his business has registered he said was winning regional awards under the Southern Africa Community Development (SADC ) Innovation and Investment Challenge in 2020 and also selling their first product in 2022.
The proud eco-farming business owner said it is a defining moment for them to “start”. “Entrepreneurs are the backbone of the country’s economy,” he stressed. He pointed out that as entrepreneurs, they want inclusion, saying they cannot be required to go through the same process as big corporations.
The JuliGerm founder said he cherries the idea of having successfully mounted the food establishment.
He appeals to the government to secure a revolving funding opportunity for start-ups in the country as well as encourage more entrepreneurship.
He also added that to complement the conducive environment for entrepreneurship, the government has to invest in building the enabling infrastructures as well as roads and communications infrastructure for good internet services.
Asked how he feels and how prepared he is about the incoming completion he will be participating in Singapore next month, Mothibeli said is “more than ready” to meet the world in Singapore, the opportunity he said will challenge him to navigate and appreciate the international standards.
“Our future plans as a company are just to ignite the spirit of Basotho youth in daring the narrative we are fed. To build a sustainable business that not only serves the nation but saves our agri-value-chain,” he said.