Looking into the Future: 30 Careers in Agriculture

by Mary James

TThe Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA) wanted to open up a whole new world to the inquisitive young mind when it comes to agricultural career opportunities, and this was indeed achieved through the very popular career booklet Living Agriculture: 50 Career Opportunities that was first published in 2019.

However, the world as we know it is changing at a phenomenal rate, and the agricultural landscape is no different, making it important to keep up as technology changes so that we are not left behind.

We have entered the 4th Industrial

Revolution (4IR) and what this means is a whole new way of work. Where the physical, digital and biological worlds come together, technologies are inter-connected. This brings new and exciting career opportunities for the youth to venture into.

The WCDoA has thus packaged these futuristic career opportunities into our latest career booklet, Looking into the Future: 30 Careers in Agriculture

For many of the careers included in this booklet, there are already jobs on offer, but there is a critical shortage of skills for them in South Africa. Some of the careers included, however, are in their infancy (still in their research and development phase), or are slowly emerging. Before long there are likely to be interesting and exciting new job opportunities available in South Africa.

We hope it boosts you to do your own research into these unique careers and hopefully opens your mind to think beyond the “usual” career opportunities. Happy reading! AP

This booklet aims to introduce you to these careers, to give you a broad understanding of what the job entails, where you could work, and how you could potentially acquire the skills and education to do the job.

Looking into the Future: 30 Careers in Agriculture can be found by visiting www.elsenburg.com/ books/future-careers-in-agriculturefirst-edition/ or following this QR code.

For more information, contact Mary James: mary.james@westerncape.gov.za