09 Mar 2016

The government  continues to come up with programmes that seek to eradicate poverty , create employment and turn some citizen’s dreams into reality.  

Ms Lesedi Seumakwane of Kanye is one person who has seen an opportunity in several government programmes.

The 38-year-old mother of three has benefited from different out of school programmes and manufactures lerotse jam and vegetable artchar.

Her journey started from humble beginnings in Sese in 2007 when she approached the agricultural officer to seek advice to do horticulture.
She was enrolled for a course at Pelotshetlha near Kanye where she learnt vegetable preservation through production of atchar and jam.

Her interest in manufacturing led her to meet the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) who facilitated business skills on her.
She was later attached to the National Food Technology Research Centre (NFTRC) where her love for food preservation and packaging grew even bigger.

The government, through the poverty eradication programme, made her dream come true by assisting her with a grant of P29 000 in 2009 to help her buy equipment such as pots, stove, deep freezer and packaging bottles to start the jam and atchar business. Ms Seumakwane attributes her financial boost to kgodu ya lerotse which is a mixture of cooked lerotse and sour milk which she supplies to leading supermarkets in Jwaneng to make tasty traditional porridge.

“When business is low, I trust kgodu to pay my bills,” she said.
She enjoys support from local shops and a wide range of customers who keep coming for her products.

Ms Seumakwane is a regular at fairs and has attended regional and national fairs to sell her products and to meet potential partners and make contacts.

She nods in agreement when quizzed about the challenges that may threaten her business. She showed disappointment at some people who still look down upon locally produced products, adding that her products were approved by the Ministry of Health and NFTRC for consumption.

Lack of operating space is also a problem especially when she has an order. Currently she is operating from home. Ms Seumakwane grows vegetables in her backyard to supplement production.
She is also a farmer and  ploughs marotse at her field in Betesankwe.

When low rainfall proves to be a threat, she opts to buy marotse to continue her business.
She intends to extend her business by manufacturing tomato and beetroot jam besides her jam and atchar business. She is also known for designing leather bags from goat leather. She ploughs every season through government assistance programmes and rears goats.

She urged all women to stand up and use their hands to feed their families. Ms Seumakwane said it all starts with passion and that empowerment and finance will follow, adding that it requires devotion for one to embrace government initiatives and to benefit from them. Ends