08 Jul 2018

Formation of farmers associations is critical to advancing members’ interests presented by one strong voice, chairperson of Isago Small Stock, Mr Thatayaone Ramaphoi has said.
Speaking in an interview, Mr Ramaphoi noted that it was government’s initiative for farmers to form syndicates/associations so that they could be assisted swiftly and to also easily access government programmes.
He said the association which comprised  13 members was formed in 2011 and was formerly registered in 2012 under Small Stock Industry Federation of Botswana (SIFB), with mandate to bring together farmers for networking and to be heard as a collective.
He said as farmers in associations they shared ideas and experiences, pool resources together such as sharing vaccine costs as a group and saving labour cost.
Mr Ramaphoi said the association was opened to farmers in the Southern District and to those interested in venturing into farming industry.
Mr Ramaphoi noted that just like other cooperatives they too encountered challenges such as lack of regular attendance of scheduled meetings because farmers were sparsely located and were always forced to be around their farms to curb the ever increasing incidents of stock theft.
He said platforms such as social media and Agricultural department aided them in marketing and advertising the association . ENDS