23 Jun 2020

Thirty-four year-old Mr Humphrey Barnard, a renowned horticultural farmer in the North East District (NED), went into the farming business to keep his grandfather Louwrense’s legacy alive. 

Mr Barnard’s farm, located in Tshesebe, has become one of the district’s vegetable hubs, contributing immensely to food security.

For the past four years, the Tshesebe farmer has found a niche in supplying hawkers across all villages in the NED and as far as the City of Francistown.

Arriving at the farm, one is greeted by a green scene of cabbages on the west wing, but as the expedition continues towards the eastern side, it becomes a contrasting scenery of frail tomatoes that have suffered the effects of the frosty weather.

One notable thing about Mr Barnard is that he does not shy away from bragging about his tomatoes even in their brittle state.

He stated that 2020 has been a dreadful year for his tomatoes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as his key clientele, hawkers were on lockdown when the tomatoes had ripened.

He said under normal circumstances, matshelonyana trucks queue up for stock every morning, but with the pandemic, business was sluggish. 

He said this has resulted in massive losses as he had to throw away truckloads of ripe tomatoes everyday to avoid them spoiling others.

“Lockdown was such a bad experience for the business as we had to harvest ripe tomatoes and throw them away because my hawkers were on lockdown in their homes,” he said.

Mr Barnard dreads reliving those gloomy days when demand dropped, however, he said there was a glimmer of hope when he was approached to supply villages around Tshesebe with vegetables for the relief programme food basket.

He highlights that hawkers were good patrons in that they paid at the point of sale unlike big retailers who delayed in processing payments, hence crippling the supply chain.  However, he said cabbage was doing well in winter, adding that hawkers were back in business, making small to large orders of cabbage.

Mr Barnard said farming was a full-time job for him as he had to carry out daily activities of watering, cultivating and invoicing.

With a farm that needs devotion, he currently employs 34 people, indicating however that during a busy period he hires up to 80 employees.

He explained that horticulture required best farming practices, which was why he had invested in a fertilization machinery, where he dispenses fertilizer into machinery, mix with water to dissolve then the mixture is carried to the crops through a pipe network.

The farmer said he had approached funding entities over the past four years to assist him to build a tomato shelter to protect them against harsh weather conditions, but his proposals were rejected. 

He noted that financiers had indicated he had means to fund himself, which he dismisses as unfair because the horticulture business struggles to be sustainable in Botswana.

He stated that the biggest challenge with horticultural business was competition from the South African market despite government putting stringent measures for Batswana to buy home grown products.

Mr Barnard said whenever government offered Batswana a bigger stake to buy local, some still manipulated the system and bought vegetables in South Africa.

He said the horticultural business has potential in Botswana if only producers could work together and comply with government’s regulations.

He stated that being a member of the Tshukudu Northern Horticultural Farmers Association that advocates for farmers rights in the North East District, has helped his business grow as he shared and learned life skills with and from other dedicated farmers.

The farmer noted that he was open to offering attachments to young and upcoming farmers having worked with LEA and the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development to upskill some of their beneficiaries.

Mr Barnard said farming required passion and advised all who wished to venture into it to be committed in order to reap the rewards. Ends