Business is good - phane harvesters
30 Dec 2025
Phane harvesters have explained that there is a lucrative market in Botswana and some parts of southern Africa for the worm which is treated as a delicacy.
With the phane harvesting season currently underway, hundreds of harvesters are in the bush aiming to collect as much as they can and sell off in the local and regional markets. The phane worm is found in mophane trees mostly in central, east and north east of Botswana.
Ms Marriam Mafoko said the phane business was made more lucrative by the fact that it required minimal expenses, and just labour and time. In an interview at a phane harvesting camp in Rasetokwane lands near Tshimoyapula in the Central District, she said together with her business partner Ms Gotshweremang Rasejo, they bought phane from harvesters and sold it in the market.
Furthermore, we sell as far as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo where it is consumed in large quantities, and to commercial farmers in South Africa who feed it to their cattle. In South Africa, it is also packaged and sold after value addition, she explained.
Ms Mafoko from Serowe, further pointed out that the phane business had taken them to several districts across Botswana, including North East, Boteti and areas within the Gammangwato territory. She said they also used the bartering system in some instances to exchange phane for food items, drinks and clothes.
Other phane harvesters, Ms Gobotsa Tsietsanang and Mr William Dingake concurred that the business was lucrative, required non-skilled labour, had low costs of production, and therefore possessed great potential for profit-making.
Ms Tsietsanang from Moralane in the Mahalapye District, however said they encountered challenges during harvesting such as unscrupulous individuals who took their phane in large quantities under the pretext that they would provide transportation to and from the harvesting exercise, then vanished into thin air. She said a team of 15 phane harvesters from Moralane had sought police intervention after falling victims to such characters.
She also said they encountered challenges of lack of potable water and transport. Ms Tsietsanang said in the event of a need for medical services, they faced challenges because they were always deep in the bush where accessibility was a problem.
She also said there were risks of pollution to the environment as they had no toilets in the bush. She further said harvesters faced risk of getting lost in the bush when not familiar with the area. She added that there were risks of being bitten by deadly snakes in the bush.
Mr Dingake from Selebi Phikwe, believed that unemployed Batswana should be given special dispensation to harvest phane without harvesters’ permit to improve their livelihood. He said the business could help many Batswana graduate from poverty, and as such should not be denied the opportunity due to issues of permits. He said some Batswana struggling to put food on the table would not afford the P115 required for permit.
More than 400 people were in the bush harvesting phane at Rasetokwane lands, while 600 were at Mmakhumo cattleposts near Serule. BOPA
Source : BOPA
Author : Keith Keti
Location : Serowe
Event : Interview
Date : 30 Dec 2025
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