06 May 2018

Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane says Lobu will soon be a beacon of hope to farmers in Kgalagadi South and the country at large.

He said so far 114 people have been trained since January to date,  and that the majority were females. The farm also has a staff complement of 37.

He said this on May 4 during a visit to the government owned farm which specialises in small stock production. The farm has  Swakara sheep and Boerbok goats.

They also keep other species.

The farm, which came into being in 1978, was meant to help farmers along the Molopo River basin to hone their small stock production skills and produce high quality animals.

It has also been instrumental in branding the district as one of the best in the country when it comes to improved breeds of livestock.

However, the farm lost its touch a few years ago when it started experiencing low turn up of farmers who were the main stakeholders in utilising its services.

It was for that reason that earlier this year the then Vice President, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi called on all stakeholders to come up with a plan of how the farm could be resuscitated.

In an interview during a tour of different paddocks, Vice President Mr Tsogwane said he was impressed with the progress of the farm thus far, adding that he was optimistic that it would re-claim its glory days.

Mr Tsogwane said he was confident that the farm would produce desired results.

He added that since the beginning of the year, everybody involved in he project was willing to go the extra mile in executing their duties.

He said the plan was to rally behind farmers to practice new and improved farming methods by providing them with skilled personnel who would offer thorough training.

Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Patrick Ralotsia echoed the same sentiments Mr Tsogwane that the farm was now on the right track.

He said the objective was to brand Kgalagadi goat meat and lamb chops, adding that they want farmers to produce on a large scale so that they could be able to supply the envisaged small stock abattoir.

Mr Ralotsia said customers locally and abroad should be able to easily identify the product through its packaging and taste, which was why the government was doing all it could to help mobilise farmers.

Deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Dr John Moreki said significant progress has been achieved.

He pointed out that they were almost done with procuring pure breed livestock locally and abroad and training some farmers as well as ensuring that the staff was adequate.

Dr Moreki said in the  next phase they would be looking to educate farmers on animal husbandry such as feeding techniques and a risk register to record all activities happening in the farm.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the team was hard at work looking at different markets for better prices, especially abroad. ENDS