Grain SA/Absa Developing Grain Producer of the Year

Hard work and perseverance drives him to achieve success - Maurice Boki

LIANA STROEBEL, Grain Farmer Development Programme, Grain SA

As we all know, it is not in everyone’s blood to be a farmer, but with perseverance and a will to succeed, anything is possible. Mr Maurice Boki (Grain SA/Absa Developing Grain Producer of the Year) realised from a very early age that he is (as he calls it) “a man of the earth” and that his love for the land and animals is very strong.

Maurice has listened to his intuition, regardless of the challenges, and followed his dreams. “People don’t always fully under stand the constraints and obstacles that exist to start farming with nothing.

Man alone, with no land, no knowledge or experience and no support – with just passion in your pocket. That is where Maurice started.
He was born in 1941 in Matatiele. He went to school at the St. Columbus Primary School and Mariazel High School in Matatiele. He left school in standard eight and went to St. Anthony’s mission where he received his matric certificate.

He then moved to Johannesburg and worked at the Germiston municipality for three years. After he left the municipality he joined the Twins Pharmaceutical Company (Adcock Ingram) where he worked for twelve years. He then left the pharmaceutical company in 1977 and bought a general dealership in Matatiele which is still in operation today. He speculated a bit with cattle after which, with the assistance of Land Bank he purchased a farm in the Cedarville area in the Eastern Cape.

Maurice started to attend courses and gathered any farming information he could get his hands on and made it his own. He bought some cattle and also planted a few hectares of maize which initially yielded only about 2,5 tons/ha.

As Mr Neels Uys, a well-known farmer from the Western Cape says: “start small and end big”. Maurice did start small and 18 years later his farming business is still growing. Today he is farming on 1 178 ha, has a flock of 200 Bonsmara-cross-Brahman breeding cows, 40 heifers and 80 Dohne Merinos on 818 ha veld. He also planted 135 ha dryland maize and achieved a yield of 6 tons/ha.

Maurice is a very modest person, but when you ask him what it is that motivated and inspired him over the years to succeed, he refers to two aspects: First, the support of his wife and four children. His eldest son, Stembile, works in the corporate world in Johannesburg, his eldest daughter, Lindelwa, is a doctor in East London, his second eldest daughter, Zintle, works in marketing in Johannesburg and his youngest is at home.

He says further that the second reason for his success is his strong belief in sheer hard work and his diligence to achieve his short and long term goals. Regarding his strengths and weaknesses he explains that he always tries to give his absolute best in whatever he does.

He mentions that his weaknesses are the same as everyone else’s and that he can sometimes be impatient because he wanted everything done yesterday! Maurice feels that although he has learnt so much up to now, one can never ever have enough knowledge.

Where his future plans are concerned, he aims to increase his maize yield to 10 tons per hectare and also to increase his Bonsmara-cross-
Brahman herd from 200 to 400 animals over the next five years. His only concern is land availability in the area. Although he is 72 years old he does not allow his age to hamper his dreams.

Maurice’s advice to young and up and coming farmers out there is: “Do not think you will become rich overnight. Farming is a difficult, time-consuming process to achieve financial stability. We must also never forget that the main objective of farming is to feed our nation.” Bill Cosby said: “To be successful, your desire to succeed should be greater than your fear of failure.” Maurice’s desire to succeed is unquestionable. During 2013, at a prestigious function, he was appointed as the Grain SA/Absa Developing Grain Farmer of the Year. This competition should by no means be taken lightly and participants are judged according to strict rules and criteria.

Aspects that are judged include human resource management, financial management, the diversity of farming operations and the responsibility taken to develop employees. The value of this competition should not be underestimated. It creates a platform for emerging farmers to get to know each other, but also to compete with each other.

Many farmers in the rural areas sometimes feel isolated and have no networks or other farmers to ask for advice or guidance. This competition brings farmers that work under the same circumstances together and it gives them the opportunity to measure their own progress against others. Role-models like Maurice inspire small-scale and entry level farmers to excel.

He is not only an inspiration to entry level farmers, but to everyone that he comes into contact with. The admiration and utmost respect that Mr Ian Househam, the Grain SA provincial co-ordinator in the Eastern Cape who works with Maurice, has for him is almost tangible. His impressions are: “Maurice Boki is a 72 year old farmer, but he farms like a young man of 25.

“He is a dedicated and passionate farmer who always gives 100% of himself in everything he does. When he does something, he either does it properly or not at all. There are no half measures with Maurice. He sees the good and the positive in every situation, whether in his work or in his personal life.

“He is a devoted family man and takes good care of his family and his employees. Maurice has the utmost respect for everything and everyone and it is evident in the way he deals with people and with life in general. In my opinion he is the epitome of a South African farmer and an example of what South Africa’s emerging farmer can achieve. Grain SA is proud to be associated with Maurice Boki,” Househam said.