12 Jan 2015

While standing at arm’s length under the thick, cool shadow of mongana tree I can undoubtedly notice passion, an undying desire clearly marked in his shiny dilated pupils. 

Pumped up with vivacity, his hands swerved sharply about displaying indigenous trees he develops in his compound. 

This is none other than 56 year old Mr Botlhe Khubamang of Kopong who has developed love for indigenous trees.

For many years right under this mongana tree, university professors and scholars have sought and soaked in his treasured indigenous knowledge.

Even though he is not gaining much monetary value, he is not a man to develop cold feet. 

He is a man full mindedly engaged in preserving nature and making a living out of what many overlook- what warms the cockles of his heart, indigenous trees.

Mr Khubamang professes his undying passion for indigenous trees and will do anything to ensure he passes on the knowledge to generations to come.

Throw him any question about indigenous trees or related cultivars, with his chin up he provides answers off-hand without scratching his head. 

He is not the kind of a man to let grass grow under his feet, he keeps improving his garden and taking his produce to the people and establishing ties with relevant stakeholders.

Working closely with Botswana College of Agriculture (BCA) which he says has butted his bread for a while as well as the Department of Forestry and Range Management which recently provided him with shade nets, poles and a water tank-Jojo under which hundreds of his indigenous seedlings ranging from motshikiri, mowana, modubu, motlhware, mhata, mhatlha, mogodiri,ntlhofi, nkgotlhwane (Setswana carrot), tshuge (wheat), serowa, mmilo, mmopudu, moretologa, thejane (soap), thoma (onion) kgopo (Setswana garlic) moringa , mosukujane…and many others all flourish under his care.

Mr Khubamang was a truck driver who left his job in 2009 to pursue his passion says he was motivated by his passion for nature which was gradually deteriorating at the hands of man. 

People who cut down trees causing deforestation hence threatening species which used to be abundant, he therefore took it upon himself to look for their seeds in the bush and plant them again.

Further he says he was further driven by his desire to teach young generations who seemed to know only imported trees, adding there was need to instill aboriginal knowledge so that they are well vested with where things come from.

He says most of trees stocked in shops today are hybrids because people are profit driven.

“Not that there is anything wrong with it, but it’s important to preserve the original ones lest they perish,” he says.

Mr Khubamang who received a National Vision 2016 award in 2012 in recognition of his noble work says his work requires outmost patience more so that he has elected to keep his produce pristine by not employing any modern propagation or breeding methods.

Do you see that plant there? He says pointing to a budding moretologa tree.

“It took a year before the seed could emerge,” he says while taking us through tour of his green nursery.

He says that sometimes after so much work and investing so much time in planting, seeds can rot underneath and never germinate nonetheless he does not give in, he exercises patience until he achieves satisfactory results.

Further, he harbours high hopes of expanding his business and showing Batswana how cost effective indigenous trees can become compared to exotic ones, adding that their adaptability is quite swift and encourages landscapers to incorporate them in their work. ENDS