22 Aug 2016

Mr Balemogeng Kaso of Somelo is optimistic that one day he will run a successful dairy after the North West District Council (NWDC) leadership appreciated his concerns and promised him to look into the matter.

The youthful Mr Kaso together with other two young people were assisted through Remote Area Development Programme (RADP) to operate a dairy project in the village but it collapsed in 2012.

The RADP benefitted people who live in remote settlements, at least 15 kilometres, from established villages and settlements do not have access to basic social amenities and are generally socially and economically marginalised.

The trio was given five cattle and one bull in 2008 and the project progressed well as the cattle multiplied until 2012 when the village was hard hit by a severe drought. 

The situation resulted in the collapse of the project as all the 15 cattle died once leaving the beneficiaries empty handed

During a recent kgotla meeting at the village, Mr Kaso shared his fate with the leadership and was assured that his matter would be looked into and see how best to assist him.

In an interview, Mr Kaso expressed happiness that his suffering would come to an end as he believed that he would be assisted to restablish his venture.

He explained that since the closure of their project life has been a hell to him as it was difficult to put bread on the table. He stated that other factors that contributed to the shutdown of the project such were shortage of feed as their village is situated on a zero grazing area and lack of market.

He also expressed worry about the nicely constructed facility (dairy farm) which had now turned into a white elephant for many years. He said the facility is now old and dilapidated due to the termites while some people are stealing the gum poles which fenced the area.

Mr Kaso believed that one day the facility would be renovated and functional. “I am very happy as the leadership has promised to look into the matter and see how best they could assist. They said they would consider that the next project be operated by a group,” he added.

He said the leadership was suggesting that they could bring some youths who could partner with him and run the project successfully.

But Mr Kaso who is business minded wished the government could assist him with goats through Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID) programme. He said small stock rearing does well in their area and that the market would not be a problem as the government is the sole buyer for LIMID beneficiaries.

However, he remembered (with a smile) the good days before the project collapsed noting that they managed to make ends meet as they used to move around selling milk products such as madila and fresh milk to the surrounding communities. Ends