Yes Women and Youth in Forestry Co-operative

Director

Qualification:

• Diploma in Business Management

Forestry career: five years

As a director, I look after the growth of the company and address the various challenges we face. These include managing multiple small-scale (2.5 hectares per member) grower smallholdings rather than a single farm, and identify additional revenue sources like beadwork and pottery while we wait for our initial crop to mature.

WHY I LOVE WORKING IN THE FORESTRY SECTOR

Forestry plays a big role in the country’s economic growth and I like to be part of that.

MY ADVICE TO THOSE EXPLORING A CAREER IN FORESTRY

I encourage women to take the industry seriously and to look at it as a career. It is definitely something I recommend to the young people I work with, especially those who are deciding which subjects to take at tertiary level. Women are the majority in South Africa, so there should be more of us in this wonderful industry.