11 Jul 2016

Operating a horticulture project in Botswana is a difficult undertaking given the numerous challenges that one has to grapple with.

According to Mr Cosper Magaya, who operates a horticulture project at Sekgopa near Botalaote in the North East district, the countless challenges that besiege horticulture overshadow the potential gains that farmers stand to reap from their horticultural projects.

Mr Magaya, a Zimbabwean national who has resided and worked in various parts of Botswana since 2007, said compared to the situation in his home country, in Botswana there were way more species of pests and vegetable diseases that torment the horticulture sub-sector.

This problem, he observed, pushed the prices of disease and pest control chemicals up, forcing farmers to spend a lot of money in efforts to try and save their crops.

Another problem that he said he had come to notice during his stay in Botswana was the lack of market for horticultural products.

This, he said was worsened by the reluctance of major retailers to support local farmers by sourcing produce from them instead of importing from nearby countries such as South Africa.

At Ebenezer Greens, a project he started last year in December, Mr Magaya noted that he has also had issue with the reluctance of Batswana youth to work in labour-intensive fields such as agriculture; something he said often resulted in employees not lasting long in their jobs.

The other problems encountered at Ebenezer Greens Farm include lack of equipment available for hire such as tractors.

He said this often resulted in him waiting too long to work the land in preparation for planting.

Mr Magaya said the low water yield in the farm borehole was another challenge that limits the size of land he tills.

Despite all these, Mr Magaya, who holds a degree in Agriculture Management was quite optimistic that he would turn his farm into a profitable business venture as experience and research had shown him that horticulture was highly profitable in Botswana. ENDS