My nephew, Neo, loves cars. At a tender age of six, he can tell the difference between BWM, Audi, Jeep, VW and Toyota car brands and models. He is already brand conscious and he knows which restaurant offers food specials with toys and he understands what he wants. He asks a lot of questions and learns fast. The reality is; there are many children like him who are willing to learn and are eager to take responsibility by imitating everything we do.

I think it is important that we teach children about the importance of agriculture, early in life.

So I started introducing Neo to cattle. Different kinds of cattle breeds. And guess what, I am the one learning more in the process.

Once a child is exposed to farm life, they can easily identify different cattle and their characteristics. While this might be hard for adults (farming is about paying attention to detail), children can easy learn, particularly, when they are playing.

Many adults look at farm animals and they only see cattle, while a farmer sees exciting cattle breeds: An Afrikaner, an Ankole, a Drakensberger, a Nguni, a Simmentaler, a Brahman and/or a Bonsmara.

The same way children learn about different cars; they can learn about farming and  different types of cattle breeds (as a start).

Farming teaches children responsibility: Anything that is raised or grown on a farm depends on the farmer. Children who are introduced to farm life early learn how important their role is in the production of the food and children become aware, observant and alert to the different animal needs.

Farming teaches children why and how different animals receive different feed, require different types of shelter and need different care at different times. This gives children problem solving skills and teaches them the value of hard work.

It is important to teach children about the importance of agriculture, after all, they are future farmers!

– Mokgokong Mokgethi