22 Nov 2015

Lentsweletau horticultural farmers were on Tuesday speechless after a hail storm swept through their farms and destroyed produce worth over a million pula in value.

In an interview, one of the affected farmers, Mr Kagiso Nkago of Seed Time farm in Ditshoso Lands near Lentsweletau said he lost 155 000 heads of cabbages and a hector of watermelon. On average his produce was going to yield more than P700 000. The net shading has also been destroyed.

Mr Nkago indicated that the variety of the cabbage he ploughed, Conquistador, is a heat resistant variety and it was looking good before the storm. Therefore he was adamant that his returns were quite good had it not been for the disaster. He said cabbage is a very profitable crop and ploughing them in summer works for him as the demand is quite high and the supply is slow. He said this strategy has worked for him for three consecutive years.

He however mentioned that most of his cabbages were almost mature as he has already sold about a thousand heads. The farmer was funded by CEDA and is worried that he is not going to be able to repay his loan.

A 34 -year- old Ouma Dube of Agri Dutt farm in Lentsweletau was devastated at the amount of damage in her farm. She lost butternuts valued at about P70 000, 10 000 heads of cabbage valued at P45 000 and half a hector of tomatoes which have been partially destroyed.

Ms Dube explained that the hail storm lasted for about 30 minutes on Tuesday night around 9 pm. She also said that last year in May, her crops were hit by frost. She lost around P150 000 of tomatoes and green pepper then. She said farming poses a lot of challenges that she is forced to dig deep into her pocket to meet some of her financial needs in her farm.

Her biggest challenge she said is paying her loan with CEDA. Last year when she was hit by frost, her financier did not help and this time she is hopeless that her financier will refinance her project because she is in arrears.

She said young people suffer the most in projects such as this one as they do not have assets or alternative  means of funding. Therefore, most of them give up easily. She also observes that open field does not work for most farmers because crops in open field are vulnerable to natural disasters.

Still in Lentsweletau, Ms Gladys Kario of Gabgin Investments has also lost two hectors of tomatoes and butternut all valued at about P200 000. The crops were all grown in open field. 

Ms Dineo said that her production plan has been distorted and does not know how she is going to handle her financiers. “The fact that my financiers are a commercial bank makes the situation even more difficult to handle.”

When quizzed on how they assist clients who lose produce due to natural disasters, CEDA project Manager Mr Gaolebale Regoeng said in this case, they will assess the situation and the extent of the damage. 

They will then make recommendations based on the farmer’s request which is then forwarded to senior management for approval and see how best they can help them. It is however important to note that the client’s account status is taken into consideration on whether they can help or not. Ends