19 Oct 2020

  As part of President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s initiative to encourage integrated farming and agro-tourism, Tlokweng’s Three Trees Garden yesterday  hosted presidential COVID-19 task team meeting.

Farm owner Mr Ikalafeng Rabasha said in an interview that he appreciated the initiative as it served to expose local farmers to markets.

Mr Rabasha, a mechanical engineer by profession, said he started from humble beginnings in 2010 without any support from financial institutions.

Vegetable gardening started on a 50 by 50 plot which had since been expanded to four hectares, he said.  

Mr Rabasha explained that his passion for farming started at an early age and that upon retirement from Botswana Defence Force (BDF), he embarked on his lifetime dream.

He now boasts of a lucrative market supplying Woolworths chain stores, known for attracting high income clientele, as well as all Nandos food outlets in Botswana.

Mr Rabasha stated that business had grown satisfactorily further explaining that he regularly identified gaps in the value chain and worked on them to keep up with market trends in an effort to satisfy the ever demanding clientele.  

He disclosed plans of breaking into the international market since his product range was of high  quality and highly competitive.

Mr Rabasha currently produces leafy products mainly lettuce, spinach and cabbage.

He said he was exploring fish and bee keeping which he had  identified as profitable owing to available resources in his garden.

One of his challenges, he said,  was soaring temperatures explaining they were not good for leafy crops.

The garden currently has 17 employees and mostly hosts for practicals Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) students.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Karabo Gare said the President’s initiative was on good course as it contributed meaningfully to diversifying farm usage through promotion of integrated farming and agro-tourism.

Describing the initiative as a good starting point for attaining food self-sufficiency in Botswana, Mr Gare said it was yielding good results. ENDS