17 May 2016

Gone are the days when cooking was seen as a woman’s job as nowadays many men in Botswana are not shying away from this kind of career.

They have swept under the carpet the idea that a man behind the stove is not man enough and many of them have now become everything from chefs to restaurant owners.

Even young boys at secondary school now take Home Economics as a subject without any fear of being looked down upon.

An example is one 44 year-old, Mr Ditiro Marotsi from Tonota, who decided to embark on a cooking business so as to run away from unemployment.

In an interview recently, he said he initially wanted to be a farmer and applied for goats with Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID) but when the process took long, he thought of another idea to make money.

“I bought some pots and meat from a butchery to cook lunch for people near Take no Time shops,” said Mr Marotsi.

The business started in February 2015 and he cooks lunch meal that consists of pap, tripe or mogodu as it is called in Setswana and also goat head, which is a favourite among Batswana men.

His plate sells from P10 upwards and has many clients and makes good profit from his sales, which often has his clients call him non-stop when he decides to take a day off.

“However, I am troubled by the local council authorities every now and then as they say they do not allow one to cook using firewood in an open space,” he said.

Mr Marotsi said his wish is to make more money so that he can buy a mobile kitchen in order to avoid having his business shut down and also wants to expand it.

He did not take any course to learn how to cook but it is something that he just learnt from home and did not go further in his studies and that is why he decided to start his cooking business.

The business has helped him to b