07 Feb 2016

Lobutse is an unrecognised settlement which does not have a farmers committee nor a Village Development Committee (VDC).

Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse said the Lobutse community falls under Tsonyane settlement, which is under the Sesung extension area and is made up of approximately 50 farming households which are basically Tsonyane residents.

Mr Autlwetse said officers in Ngwaketse West at Sesung extension area have a standing agreement of weekly visits to the area, including Lobutse whose latest visits were on January 13 and 22, this year. During these visits coupons for ISPAAD inputs procurement were issued to farmers, said the assistant minister.

“The programme for establishment of drift fences was phased out long before the inception of the ISPAAD programme, which has a component of arable production cluster fencing,” he said.

However, Mr Autlwetse said efforts were being made to educate the community through various fora such as kgotla meetings and field courses on the importance of cluster fences.

“The community will need to organise itself so that they get assisted as a crop production cluster,” he added.

The MP for Kanye South, Mr Abram Kesupile had asked the minister if he was aware that Lobutse was a well organised community that needs regular visits by the agriculture officer to advice on issues regarding the use of their fields and resolve the long standing issue of a drift fence. He also wanted to know why the agriculture officers were not regular enough to the satisfaction of the farmers, and when would the Lobutse community be assisted to put up the drift fence. Ends