09 Jul 2014

Botswana, a country well known for its firm belief in agriculture, continues to see more Batswana taking it upon themselves to continue the legacy.

One such ardent farmer is Mr Molikiemang Banyeletse, a youth aged 31 years from Tati Siding, who has turned to farming as a way to earn a living.

The young man said in an interview recently that he will eternally be grateful to government for the changes it made in his life.

Mr Banyeletse, an auto mechanic, was inspired by his cousin who benefited from the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Appointment (CEDA) to pursue his dream of dog breeding.

His dream was to have a garden of his own where he would be able to grow vegetables such as cabbage, spinach and carrots and he applied for the land in 2009 and fortunately got it within a short period.

Mr Banyeletse said although he got 100 metres by 100 metres land in 2010, it was not easy as he had to follow a long procedure and convince Tati Land Board with satisfactory information of how he was going to use the land.

Unfortunately for him, underground water was not enough for the horticulture project he wanted to pursue.

It was then that he decided to embark on the rearing of small stock, whose knowledge was acquired from his parents. He applied for funding from the Youth Development Fund (YDF) in August 2010 and he received the money in April of the following year. 

Some of the challenges he encountered among others included getting quotations from people, preparing management plan and money for travelling to the youth office in Masunga from time to time.

He said all that was worth it as he achieved the result – a P100 000 funding which he used to buy 60 goats, an assortment of Boer goat, Kalahari Red and Tswana goat together with two bucks from other farmers in Botswana.

“The Boer and the Kalahari goats grow fast and they have good meat while the Tswana goat is preferable also because it is drought resistant,” he explained.

Mr Banyeletse said that a few days after the arrival of the goats, 17 of them died due to the dry season but the deaths did not cause despair as he understood well that business would come with its challenges.

His market includes other government-funded, start-up small stock businesses. Castrates are sold to various customers for their meat.

The business is doing well and credits the Department of Youth for the short course, which he attended at Impala Training Institution. The five-day crash course shed greater light on the nitty-gritty of small stock farming.

Different kinds of diseases such as pasteurella, which is a blood disease and palpitation, a kidney disease also affect the small stock. He also incurs a high cost in feeding the goats as he buys them supplementary feeds, including lablab every month as grazing is not enough. He also faces transport challenges when he has to deliver goats to his customers.

He is grateful for the continuous support from the Department of Youth, who pay regular visits and carry out assessments as well as from Ministry of Agriculture, who are always there to shed some light on how to carry out his business successfully.

Mr Banyeletse said he has learnt that hard work, patience, focus and perseverance are the tools that will eventually lead him to where he wants to be. He plans to add sheep into his small stock business so that he can grow to a point where he becomes a major supplier to butcheries and other meat selling outlets. ENDS