Abstract:
First of all, I feel very honoured and humbled to present this prestigious FR
Tomlinson Memorial Lecture, particularly in my home province of Limpopo where
I cut my teeth of service as an agricultural economist. It all started in the early days
of my primary schooling where I observed extension officers assisting farmers to
manage their micro-farm enterprises at our Eldorado village in Blouberg. It was a
place well-endowed with underground water, good arable soil and sweet grazing
land (though with less than normal rainfall). Years later, I had the opportunity to
serve the Agricultural Economics profession through the Agricultural Economics
Association of South Africa (AEASA) Management Committee at different (if
not all) portfolios3. Then, I persuaded the association to open up to agricultural
economists from different spaces, particularly from the provinces. This year marks
25 years since I started practising as an agricultural economist, and having attended
