21 Jun 2017

As the morning cock crows, it sends an alarm signal to 48-year-old, Ms Neo Ntumisang of Makomoto, to kick off her blankets and be keen to start preparing piles of firewood to catch up with early customers.

When she faced some financial challenges with no job to do, she did not seat back and give up hence she tried her luck on collection and selling of firewood.

Ms Ntumisang is among scores of people who collect and sell firewood at Makomoto lands just along the Francistown/Gaborone main road with the intention to earn her family a dignified livelihood. 

Her positive attitude towards this business clearly testifies that she is unfazed by her means of survival as she always strive to be bold and do whatever it takes not to return home empty handed.

She has been in the business for more than 10 years now, her achievements from profit generated includes making ends meet for her family, paying up educational fees for her children.

Though, this might seem to be a strenuous job especially for a female, considering that intense chopping of firewood is not only labour intensive but it is also risky since the firewood is collected in bushy areas, Ms Ntumisang is still holding on.

She engages people to cut out logs and carry them to her work station, the downside of this is that she has to use some of her profits to pay the casual labourers.

“I have been in this business for some time now, the idea was to save my family from hunger. Though I do part away with some of my profits engaging people to help me with cutting and collection wood, I feel this is still ideal and my positive achievement speaks out for me,” she said.

Ms Ntumisang shared that she understands the negative environmental impacts that are associated with this type of business, citing that if not done with vigilance it contributes to deforestation.

“At one point, we had to introspect and ended up halting this business for a short while as some people were cutting live trees. We were aware of the long term impact it would have not only on our business but on our area,” she said.

Ms Ntumisang also said since the introduction of operational permits by the Department of Forestry and Range Management which intends to regulate the business and other related matters, people have started to be more mindful about environmental management issues.

She further shared that as they know what they stand to lose if the environment is not rehabilitated, they have since taken it upon themselves to keep an eye on each other’s practices and offer advice where necessary.

Ms Ntumisang said these permits are renewable on a monthly basis and anyone caught operating without one would have their fire wood ceased and charged.

She was however quick to point out that at first there was resistance to this but they have since realised it was for the greater good of the environment.

Ms Ntumisang further noted that she does experience peak sales during the winter and festive seasons. She tries to cater for the diverse needs of her customers by ensuring that she has different packages to suit their needs with price ranging from P10 to P500.BOPA