23 Jan 2022

Moemedi Ranko is a standard four teacher at Tachibona Primary School in Dukwi with a flame of passion for farming, both arable and pastoral.

A Botswana Press Agency (BOPA) team recently bumped into the budding farmer in Sepako village, located 52 kilometers north of Nata.

His effort is a first in an area deemed not suitable for vegetable production.

“I am someone who is passionate about farming in general and have in April last year made up my mind to start backyard gardening here as trial and as you can see everything is working out just fine, in fact I have been harvesting handsomely since embarking on this small scale vegetable production,” he said.

He grows among others; spinach, chomolia, carrots, onions, beetroots, cabbage, tomatoes and many others in a piece of land adjacent to his parents’ homestead.

The space, he said, was once used as a threshing floor but had been lying idle for some time.

His aged parents however did not let go of their land without a brawl.

A lot of convincing had to take place before they could let him utilise the space.

At the moment, Mr Ranko has taken advantage of the water from the river at the back of his place to water his vegetables.

The enterprising Ranko’s dream is big and he cannot wait for a day when he will be facilitated by the powers that be and be given the green light to use a much bigger piece of land that belonged to his parents in the past.

This way, Mr Ranko is convinced he will be able to take to farming at a grand scale.

“There is also a ploughing field belonging to my parents on the other side of the village and it stands right where there is plenty of water.

It is my hope that relevant authorities will respond positively and allow me easy access to this piece of land for further growth and expansion of vegetable production,” he said.

He is an optimist who sees no end to prospects that come along with farming such as creation of wealth, jobs and food security for the country.

The promising farmer has integrated his vegetable production with poultry mainly guinea fowls as well as Tswana chicken.

He takes solace on the fact that Sepako village is about to be connected to the national electricity grid; something he said would not only help ease farming but go a long way at increasing and consequently improve the livelihoods of farmers in the area.

“We will be able to procure things such as incubators to maximise, for instance production of guinea fowls.

At the moment, we employ the services of layers to brood over the eggs of guinea fowls and the trick is working just fine,” he said. ENDS