13 Mar 2022

Horticultural farmers have been encouraged to form cooperatives where they can sell their produce.

Addressing the North West Horticulture Growers Association (NHOGA) in Maun, Botswana Horticulture Council (BoHoCo) public relations officer, Mr Solomon Tshenyo said farmers needed to work in unison to safeguard their interests

He explained that cooperatives would enable farmers to work together and gather their produce in one place where they would be able to price competitively.

Mr Tshenyo pointed out that farmers held so much power to influence how the horticultural market operated in Botswana.

He stated that being divided could result in exploitation of the farmers. Mr Tshenyo said that currently some farmers were underpricing their produce in order to lure retailers, which he noted was disadvantageous to farmers because lowering their prices would make them suffer losses.  

The Botswana Horticulture Council, he said, had received numerous complaints from farmers who said retailers were buying fruits and vegetables cheaper from them then double or triple prices in their shops.

He highlighted that it was imperative for farmers to break supply chain barriers through the formation of a horticulture market or shop that would attract every consumer from individuals to big retailers.

Mr Tshenyo further stated that a market place would eliminate a long chain of farmers having to deal with retailers individually as they would be housed in one place.

A cropping plan to determine what every farmer planted at what time of the year should be put in place for North West district farmers, he said.

The spokesperson further mplored horticulture farmers to take advantage of the ban of the importation of vegetables and strategize how they would supply the market.

North West Horticulture Growers Association chairperson, Mr Benny Morundu reiterated that a cropping plan was key in farming to guide the association on who plants what and when.

He said currently NHOGA farmers were planting haphazardly without a proper plan in place to guide them so that they could reap the rewards of their toils.

He said formation of a cooperative was a welcome development as it would ensure that their produce would be gathered in one place and subsequently sold to shops. Mr Morundu stated that converging farmers in one place would enable them to share their successes and challenges.

He highlighted that horticultural farming business was expensive to run nowadays due to inflation and climate change, adding that it was important to adopt smart farming techniques. Ends