For Lombard Koch, farming was never something he inherited. It was a dream he had to work towards.

Growing up in Okahandja in an entrepreneurial family, Koch developed a love of nature and a passion for teaching others. He first worked as a hunting guide and later as a tour guide, but his ambition was always to farm. Without a family farm to inherit or the finances to buy one, he had to find his own way into agriculture.

His father’s advice was simple: if farming was his dream, he needed to work towards it.

Koch helped build the family business, Edible Sunflow Oils, before venturing into farming on a smallholding near Hochfeld. His passion for agriculture grew, but a lack of water eventually forced him to look for another opportunity.

“I sold the Hochfeld far

Although he did not grow up in a farming family, visits to friends and relatives on farms had already left a lasting impression on him. His own farming journey began on a much smaller scale in his backyard, where he started growing lettuce and tomatoes. That venture eventually developed into a strawberry operation with 13,000 plants and 8,000 tomato plants.

The experience strengthened his desire to farm and gave him lasting memories of working in the fields with his children. He also became fascinated by cattle auctions and the farmers who attended them.

But farming came with hard lessons.

Koch struggled with his lack of experience, losing both time and money along the way. He realised there had to be a better way to learn from farmers who had already faced and overcome similar challenges.

One day, while sitting on his stoep, he told his sister that he wished someone would create a platform where he could learn from other farmers.

Her response changed the direction of his journey. She encouraged him to create the platform himself and offered to film him.

“That idea eventually became Ek Wil Boer,” he said.

A platform built on practical knowledge

Ek Wil Boer started about two years ago, driven by Koch’s own need for practical agricultural knowledge.

He found that although information was readily available online, many of Namibia’s farming challenges were too specific to be solved by a simple Google search.

His solution was to visit farmers who had already gained the necessary experience and give them a platform to share what they had learnt.

The name Ek Wil Boer reflects Koch’s own ambition.

“I want to farm,” he said.

From the outset, he wanted the platform to help farmers learn from one another, particularly those working in remote areas. He believes producers have valuable knowledge to share and that learning from their experiences can help others avoid costly mistakes and improve their operations.

The response exceeded his expectations.

Koch says he was surprised by the demand for practical farming knowledge and the number of people following the platform. Reaching 30,000 followers on Facebook was an important milestone.

However, expanding the platform remains a challenge. Travelling from farm to farm requires time and money, and securing funding remains one of the biggest obstacles.

Despite these challenges, messages from viewers who say they are learning from the videos continue to motivate him.

Letting the farm tell its own story

There is little scripting when Koch visits a farm.

He speaks to farmers beforehand about their operations and the topics they would like to discuss. Once he arrives, however, he lets the surroundings and conversation shape the episode.

“I don’t like to do anything on a script,” he said.

Rather than forcing an interview into a set format, Koch allows the conversation to develop naturally. He asks farmers what they wish they had known when they started and what they could teach someone with little agricultural experience.

His vision is for each episode to feel natural, almost like a reality show, with the camera following the action on the farm.

The production is also a family affair. His sister, wife, daughter and son have all taken turns behind the camera.

The unpredictable nature of farming adds to the storytelling. Animals do not always behave as expected, and Koch has learnt to accept this as part of capturing authentic farm life.

He often arrives expecting to tell one story, only to discover something entirely different as he explores the farm and talks to the farmer.

“Always, a farm is a very interesting place and there is so much to talk about,” he said.

One of his most personal episodes centred on his own six-hectare onion crop, which failed. Rather than hide the setback, he chose to share it with his audience.

The experience reinforced one of the key lessons he wants Ek Wil Boer to promote: farmers can learn as much from their mistakes as from their successes.

Lessons from the land

After travelling between farms and speaking to producers from different backgrounds, Koch says one of his biggest lessons is that farming must be driven by passion.

“Farming should be a passion, not just a job,” he said.

His experience has also changed his understanding of what farming entails.

Before becoming a farmer himself, he imagined it involved sitting on the stoep and watching cattle grow. He has since learnt that farm work never stops.

“Your footprints need to be on the ground every day and checking everything. It’s hard work and most of the time the elements are against you,” he said.

Planning and record-keeping have also become important lessons. Koch says farming demands precision and that mistakes can become costly if they are not recorded, analysed and learnt from.

Resilience is another quality he admires in farmers.

“They keep pushing forward when times are very tough,” he said.

For Koch, successful farming comes down to love, passion and precision. Farmers need to understand their operations in detail and continually learn from what works and what does not.

A changing agricultural landscape

Through Ek Wil Boer, Koch has gained a broader perspective on the challenges facing Namibian agriculture.

Theft is one of the major concerns he hears from farmers, while rising fuel and fertiliser costs are putting increasing pressure on production.

At the same time, he has seen farmers taking more proactive steps to prepare for difficult seasons.

He has noticed growing interest in regenerative agriculture, improving grazing capacity, clearing invader bush, producing animal feed and building reserves during good years.

Technology is also playing an increasingly important role.

Koch has seen drones and precision-farming techniques being used to apply fertiliser and pesticides more accurately, although the cost of adopting new technology remains a challenge.

Younger farmers, he says, are also exploring different approaches, from using technology and introducing different cattle breeds to adopting regenerative practices aimed at improving productivity and profitability.

Beyond the farm gate

What began as a way to help farmers learn from one another has developed into something broader: showing consumers what happens before food reaches supermarket shelves.

Koch believes people often underestimate the work that goes into producing the food they buy.

His goal is to show that agriculture is built on long hours, careful planning, risk and dedication.

He also believes that farming can change how people think about their careers and their relationship with food.

Koch’s own story demonstrates that a farming journey does not have to begin with a large commercial operation. His started in a backyard.

“Anyone can be a farmer and reap the rewards. You can start small and grow your business. I started in my backyard! Farming just needs patience and passion. You don’t need a big farm, just start,” he said.

That, for Koch, is at the heart of Ek Wil Boer: creating a space where knowledge can be shared, mistakes can become lessons and farmers can tell their own stories.

His message to the public is equally direct.

“Support farmers because they support you, without them there will be no food and a lot less jobs,” he said.

For Koch, farmers deserve recognition not only for what they produce, but also for the knowledge, resilience and years of experience behind every product that reaches the table.