28 Sep 2022

Determination and commitment are critical to the success of any business or project, says Tonota sub-council chairperson, Mr Christjan Machokoto.

Officiating at the launch of a potato production trial for poverty eradication beneficiaries in Borolong recently, Mr Machokoto  said some projects had failed because beneficiaries complained about lack of water.

He, however, said he was of the view that some failures were a result of lack of determination and discipline on the part of the beneficiaries.

Mr Machokoto cautioned that with the current global economic challenges, such programmes would be discontinued, leaving the responsibility to pull through and add value to the economy squarely on the beneficiaries.

He said beneficiaries should aim to shoulder the responsibility of feeding the nation than relying on importing to sell.

He lauded government’s decision to halt the importation of some farm produce in response to farmers’ complaints about lack of market for their produce.

Crop production principal technical officer, Ms Unice Mooko, said the sub-district initially had 226 backyard garden programme beneficiaries, but to date, only 31 remain, adding nine were selected to undertake the potato production trial as way of encouraging them to diversify their produce.

Ms Mooko added that from nine, eight were put on demonstration training for potato production and only one managed to produce 0.342 tonnes of potatoes from the 0.025 hectares he ploughed in Borolong.

This, she said was good performance considering that it was the first trial in the area.

She said they were hopeful that the other beneficiaries would also strive to do better.

The beneficiaries were from Tonota Sub-district Council villages of Borolong, Chadibe, Jamataka, Mabesekwa, Makobo, Serule and Tonota. ENDS