Fred Junior MacCarthy, a passionate 12-year-old farmer from Brits, who dreams of helping feed the children of South Africa, received R20 000 from Engen during the recent Nampo Harvest Day to help him make his dream a reality.

As a proud gold sponsor of the Nampo Harvest Day, which took place from 16-19 May 2023 in Bothaville, Engen welcomed visitors to its interactive stand and ever-popular Vintage Tractor Museum. 

Junior, as Fred is affectionately known, is the founder and CEO of Junior Farm Park which seeks to draw young South Africans into commercial farming. 

Engen hosted Junior as a VIP guest along with 13 of his friends (aged between 7-13) during Nampo’s celebration of all things farming.

Junior believes that teaching young people about farming will help achieve his vision of ending hunger.  

“My ambition is to build a Junior Farm Park where young people can visit and learn all about commercial farming and how they can help sustain the environment,” he says enthusiastically. 

Design plans for the Junior Farm Park have been finalised and Junior is currently seeking funding.

In the meantime, he has launched a Garden School Project where he plans to visit various schools to teach children about the basics of growing vegetables.

Engen is so inspired by Junior’s love for farming and his vision for Junior Farm Park and his garden project that it pledged to support Junior’s vision with a R20 000 donation.

The funds will be used to purchase garden forks, rakes and spades, and watering cans and wheelbarrows.

The official cheque handover took place at the Engen stand at Nampo.

Junior thanked Engen for their generous contribution and spoke about his passion for farming and plans for his garden project and Junior Farm Park.

“I love that Engen believed in me and my vision when I started this project, they were the first to come and help,” commented Junior.

“I was grateful to get the chance to visit Nampo again and take 13 of my friends. What I loved about Nampo was learning about modern farming techniques and seeing all the BIG toys. I’d love to have the Engen Tractor Museum at Junior Farm Park one day, so that kids can see how much farming has evolved.”

Says Engen’s Commercial business head, Drikus Kotze: “As part of our commitment to inspiring and empowering budding farmers, Engen was honoured to host Fred Junior and his friends.”

Cementing a relationship with Grain SA that spans over 40 years, Engen is a longstanding supporter of Nampo and remains resolutely committed to South Africa’s agricultural sector.

“Nampo is an ideal platform for us to demonstrate our commitment to growing and sustaining the agricultural sector through our innovative product solutions,” adds Kotze.

With over a century of experience fuelling and lubricating agricultural equipment, Engen offers a wide range of petroleum products, supported by the largest national distribution network, as well as high-performing lubricants and fluids that are endorsed by most manufacturers of modern agricultural equipment and tailored to operate under severe African weather conditions. 

Says Engen’s head of Lubricants, Sharveen Maharaj: “Our Dieselube Super 700 customer launch was held on 17 May 2023 and hosted by SA celebrity, Leah van Niekerk who performed to great acclaim at our Nampo stand.”

Engen also showcased their hard-working products which have been developed to provide the best protection for farming equipment to increase productivity and reduce costs.

“Our lubricants are specially formulated to withstand the harshest African weather conditions, with our recently launched Engen Dieselube 700 Super, advanced from CI-4 Plus to CK-4 API technology, promising to continue its legacy as the best formulation engineered for African conditions.” 

Concludes Kotze: “Engen is excited to continue its partnership with Nampo Harvest Day as we remain committed to being solutions partner to farmers, focusing on the supply of superior quality products and tailor-made solutions to meet our customer’s needs.