Speaking at the Tebogelo Thobo event in Bobonong on Friday, Kgosi Masilo said producing one’s own food could cushion community members against escalating food prices, which were currently worsened by global economic factors.

Although Tebogelo Thobo is traditionally a thanksgiving ceremony for a successful harvest, Kgosi Masilo urged residents to seize the moment not only to promote agriculture but also to reflect on how to make farming a more profitable enterprise.Now in its third year, the Tebogelo Thobo is organised by the Bobonong Farmers Committee. 

The produce donated during Tebogelo Thobo is distributed to mephato and the needy to help ease the pangs of hunger.

Some members of mephato spend days away from home patrolling the cordon fence along the Botswana-Zimbabwe border to combat livestock rustling and the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease. 

Part of the harvest is also set aside for feasts during the annual independence day celebrations.“We should produce enough food for ourselves so as to attain food security. I am sure you are aware of the skyrocketing food prices, which can only be eased by producing our own food.”Kgosi Masilo said and reminded farmers that boosting production allowed families to spend less money buying groceries while creating opportunities to sell surplus crops for a profit. 

Traditionally, such harvests are used to feed the less privileged and the poor, while also acting as food reserves for farmers themselves during times of drought.In the past, this communal relief produce came from masota, which are designated fields, ploughed to yield crops for the Kgosi to store and distribute to the needy. 

Currently, farmers from the north and south of the Motloutse River present produce grown strictly in their personal fields.

However, Kgosi Masilo noted that the community, through its traditional leadership, would soon approach the Bobonong Sub-land Board to secure community ploughing fields and resuscitate the masota system for collective food production.In closing, Kgosi Masilo called on individuals who have abandoned their ploughing fields to return to their lands and revive agricultural production. ENDS