26 Oct 2015

Agriculture continues to be the backbone of every Motswana’s livelihood. The sector remains an important source of food, income, employment and capital formation for the majority of the population in the rural areas.

Ms Angelina Matthys from Vaalhoek is one of the many Batswana that are heeding the government’s call to self-sufficiency in food production. In 2012, she was approved by the Livestock Management and Infrastructure Programme (LIMID) for goat production.  

The grant Ms Matthys received was used to purchase among other things, stock, veterinary requisites and feeds. She bought 19 production females and a buck through LIMID and has since ensured her animals get proper care by looking after them and vaccinating whenever the need arises.

With the determination Ms Matthys showed in her project, her animals have since tripled in numbers and has already been able to be a supplier for other LIMID beneficiaries twice in the area. She notes that hard work and a quest for success has been her secret weapon in ensuring she goes commercial with her production.

Having gone only as far as Form 3, Ms Matthys explains that this did not deter her from dreaming big.

Even though there are challenges involved such as predators that may prey on the goats especially during the kidding season, she does not get discouraged but even gets motivated to work harder to ensure nothing eats her kids and goats.

“The most important thing in this type of business is to be hands on,” she added. Ends