“The deposit that is required it is too high, and the land is expensive. The queues for government [aid] are too long.”

Maseli Letuka is a successful farmer growing maize, soya and wheat, as well as breeding cattle. He says it was a tough journey.

The Free State farmer left his full-time job as a teacher in 1998 to pursue his burning passion for agriculture, but says his biggest hurdle was acquiring land; to this day, he still rents the land on which he farms.

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