15 Jan 2026

With crop production being a paramount economic engine of Chobe West community, the Chobe Enclave Conservation Trust (CECT) has purchased five new tractors to promote crop production. 

Holistically, this purchase is aligned to the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP), which has earmarked agriculture as a priority sector for economic transformation.

In an interview, CECT general manager Mr Moses Sinchembe stated that the trust’s investment into agriculture was not only for economic growth purposes, but also intended to have a social impact on the people of the area.

He said historically, the economy of Chobe Enclave was dependent on three main activities being, crop and livestock production as well as employment. However, Mr Sinchembe pointed out that due to human-wildlife conflict in Chobe, cattle rearing has declined and the hectarage ploughed has gradually lessened over time.

“With the purchase of the new tractors, our people are back in farms ploughing, which means that livelihoods will be sustained and lives of the people of the Chobe Enclave community will improve,” he said. 

The manager stated that investing in agriculture in an area infested with wildlife was a clear indication that conservation and agriculture could coexist. He said the five new tractors were an addition to the three old ones which were in Parakarungu, Satau and Kachikau, adding that the five new ones were distributed in the five CECT villages. 

Mr Sinchembe remarked that in Parakarungu 69 farmers registered to be ploughed for with only two enrolling in the Lemang Dijo programme. He said in Satau, 79 people had registered for ploughing with six taking Lemang Dijo while Kachikau registered 45, five of whom would benefit from Lemang Dijo. 

Moreover, in Kavimba 43 people would be ploughed for by CECT with six of them taking Lemang Dijo, while in Mabele 41 registered, three of whom enrolled in Lemang Dijo.

In total, he said 277 farmers across Chobe Enclave would be ploughed for this season by CECT with 437 hectares already ploughed. He revealed that most of the people in Chobe Enclave were self-funded as they bought their own seedlings and fertiliser, after which CECT ploughed for them at a subsidised rates.

In addition, Mr Sinchembe pointed out that the trust had five planters, a boom spray, a ripper, five disc harrows, two mould boards, seven trailers which were all in good conditions. 

He said as part of CECT long-term investment, they were looking into farm ownership for commercial farming. This he said, would require stakeholder engagement for the optimal success of the agricultural sector. BOPA