02 Apr 2019

At 69, Ms Shale Gaosegelwe is still going strong producing quality oranges and mangoes. 

This fruit farmer who started farming in her back yard garden 21 years ago, is inspired to surge forward.

Her passion for farming motivated neighbouring farmers. Driving from Lentsweletau to Kgope, Ms Gaosegelwe’s farm is located south of the village roughly about  km. 

Traversing through the beautiful valley, the unaccustomed eye roam freely over the distant hills and fields of oranges and mangoes fill the air with apt freshness.

The orange trees in the nearby farms are neatly lined up forming small patches of green, picturesque by any standards. 

But when you finally arrive at Ms Gaosegelwe’s farm, you are greeted by a vast expanse of orange and mango trees occupying half of the 16-hecter farm.

Ms Gaosegelwe who started farming tomatoes in her back yard garden in 1998 sold tomatoes at an informal market in Lentsweletau. 

With the proceeds she bought 65 trees.  The 65 trees gave birth to Ms Gaosegelwe’s business.  Today she has 3 000 trees and 120 trees of three types of Mango.

The Molepolole-born farmer recalls that in the past her small vegetable garden of tomatoes and rape used to give her around P200 to P500 per day. 

With patience over time, the garden and oranges raised enough money for her to drill a borehole powered by electricity.

She also stated that during her entire farm life, she never wanted to finance her business with debt, rather she preferred to save money from her daily earnings to carry out developments needed in the farm.

Ms Gaosegelwe also recalls that the only loan she took was a small amount at CEDA at the insistence of LEA officials. 

The money, she says, was enough to help her purchase pipes for drip irrigation and expand infrastructure. 

She has long cleared off the loan.

She explains that oranges are profitable save for their huge consumption of water and fruit flies.

 She says her mangoes are loved by Bangladesh people who reside in Gaborone. 

She says Bangladeshis come in large numbers at the farm during weekends to harvest green mangoes to make artcha.

“I love Bangladeshis very much,” she says stressing that they are her major customers.

Although she does not dispute that government also offers competitive prices for her farm produce, she says the only problem selling to government is thatit takes long for her to receive payments.

Besides fruits, the farmer also grows cash crops such as green peppers, cabbage, tomatoes among others.

Mr Badumetse Tumelo is another farmer who produces oranges in the Lentsweletau area with his farm located at Ditshukudu lands. 

Mr Tumelo acknowledges that although he has passion for farming oranges and other fruit trees, Ms Gaosegelwe played a significant role mentoring him in producing oranges. 

He says he learnt all the dos and don’ts from her when he started his farming enterprise in 2008. 

He further says because Ms Gaosegelwe is such a passionate farmer, she is always willing to assist budding farmers and she does this with love and utmost patience.

At the moment Mr Tumelo has 127 orange trees and would like to increase his production in due course. 

He states that fruit farmers in the country are forced to buy trees outside the country because there are no nurseries locally. 

This, he says, is a huge challenge for fruit farmers although market for fruits locally is satisfactory.

Field officer at Lentsweletau Mr Lucky Ramongalo also acknowledges that through Ms Gaosegelwe, there are other farmers who have shown interest in growing fruitrees. 

To date, he says there are five farmers in Lentsweletau area who grow mangoes and oranges. 

He nevertheless pointed out that oranges are most preferred because they are resistant to harsh weather conditions..ENDS