22 Jul 2018

Land, water and loamy soils are three items central to horticultural farming, and are all abundant along the Shashe River banks.

It is therefore no wonder that the villages of Shashe Bridge, Mandunyane and Semotswane, along the Shashe River, are home to horticultural commercial farming businesses. 

Farmers in these areas produce a variety of vegetables for different markets in Francistown and surrounding areas. 

One such farmer is 57-year-old, Mooretsi Letsididi, who told BOPA that he has been operating the commercial farm, which he inherited from his parents 12 years ago.

The 6.2 hectares farm is situated along the Shashe River on the Semotswane side.

Mr Letsididi said his intentions were clear from the start regarding his future, and unlike some of his colleagues who were searching for a day job upon completing their studies, he chose to invest in horticultural farming.

He specialises in producing cabbage, a product he has been producing since taking over the farm from his old man.

“Shashe River is a convenient place to farm, there is plenty of water in the river and the soil is rich. But most importantly, its proximity to the market place makes it ideal,” he said.

Mr Letsididi explained that his customers are mostly hawkers who sell vegetables in Francistown, Tonota and the vicinity.

He said he finds it profitable to do business with the hawkers because usually he negotiates prices that are reasonable to him.

The farmer said he avoids selling to retail stores, who dictate prices for him and negatively affect his business.

Mr Letsididi said although there are great benefits in commercial farming, it is also very risky, with a lot of challenges.

He noted that one of his greatest challenges is farming on an open space, where issues like harsh weather conditions are prevalent, saying in the event a farmer is hit by frost, they can lose everything.

He said the water availability in the Shashe River, is a blessing because he gets water near his farm, which reduces costs.

Furthermore, he said over the years, his farm has managed to bring about reasonable returns and today it is sustainable and is able to provide for him.

Mr Letsididi said he has three permanent employees that work on the farm daily, but there are instances additional work compels him  to engage temporary workers.

He explained that in future, he intends to explore producing other products, specifically tomato, which has proven to be very profitable, though it is a very sensitive product. 

On the other side of the river, is new entrant into commercial farming 29-year-old Mr Kagiso Gumede, who recently occupied a rented one hectare farm.

He said his decision to try his hand at farming was due to unemployment. 

Following frustrations of securing a job after being relieved from his employment by his former employer, Mr Gumede said he decided to go back home for a fresh start.

He resides in Tonota and commutes every day to his rented farm in Shashe Bridge village, where he produces cabbage as his main crop.

After deciding to return to his home village, he said he joined forces with his brother, who is a teacher, in the quest to seek financial freedom. 

Mr Gumede said they funded everything, adding that with almost no experience in farming, it has been a learning curve all the way.

“Last year, we planted cabbage and almost all of it did not sell because we did not know where to sell our product. We then realised we have to consider a lot of things, amongst them competition from other farmers who are producing the same  product,” he said.

However, following the damages sustained from the previous harvest, Mr Gumede said their fortunes turned around as they managed to sell all their products. 

He is grateful for the government’s initiative of buying farm products from local farmers to feed primary school children.

He said through the initiative, they have found themselves a sustainable market. ENDS