15 Oct 2024

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi is today expected to hand over the Bray Community Farm which he promised the community about four years ago during a Kgotla meeting.

Acting District Agricultural CoActing District Agricultural Coordinator for Tsabong, Ms Reginah Pebe, said the 4 093.95 hectares Bray Community Farm located at Banyana Farms would be handed over as a complete package, fenced with a borehole, which yields 15.35 cubic metres of water, 10 high pedigree goats (does), a buck from Lobu Small Stock Farm, as well as a bull as part of start-up.

Ms Pebe said the development came against concerns that the Bray community had limited farm land hence needed more to produce food in line with the national food security agenda.

She said government through the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with other ministries drilled and equipped a borehole to provide water for stock, adding that the development would benefit the Bray community and create employment opportunities.

Furthermore, Ms Pebe said the community was expected to work collectively at the farm in order to increase national animal herd, adding that the project would bring diverse development to the Bray community and build unity amongst them as they worked as a team.

She highlighted that livestock statistics reflected that the animal population at Bray stood at 126 cattle owned by 12 farmers, nine horses, 52 donkeys, 120 goats, 70 sheep and 150 dogs.

On October 29, 2021, in a Kgotla meeting, the then Bray Village Development Committee (VDC) chairperson, Mr Kebadiretse Mosala, had informed President Masisi that land was the main challenge for the villagers who could not sufficiently enjoy government programmes and policies as they faced serious limitations to embark on farming projects.

The VDC chairperson noted that villagers who dared to rear small stock in the small space found themselves in conflict with ranch farmers as their  stock encroached into the ranches.

Mr Mosala had presented to President Masisi that the community was allocated a 4 093.95 hectares farm at Banyana Farms in 2015 but it was not yet functional as it needed to be equipped with the necessary provisions such as a borehole and other amenities to benefit the community.

The then Assistant Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Ms Beauty Manake, had said the community would be assisted to run the project as a profit driven entity.

Ms Manake had said the ministry allocated various land holdings for agricultural purposes nationwide but they were underutilised and therefore government sought to develop them as per the prescribed land use and Banyana Farms would  benefit.

Ms Manake noted that the Bray Community Farm had been assessed for profitability and plans were made in 2015. The plot initially was earmarked to be run by the Bray Community Trust. However, a trust was not formed and the farm was instead run by the district development committee.

She told Bray residents that the ministry had taken a decision to maintain the farm fence and revamp the paddocks inside the farm, drill a borehole and equip it, install a water reservoir, and reticulate water to the kraals.

The farm would be registered as a corporation under the name Agricultural Management Association and would be run as a business entity, she had said. ENDS