Africa-Press – Botswana. Bobirwa Farmers Partnership (BOFAPA) is reportedly on a remarkable upward trajectory, breeding an annual agriculture show into a beacon for every farmer and patron.
The chairperson, Mr Comic Letsweletse said BOFAPA in its second year running, was increasingly enjoying support needed to grow remarkably to attain national show standards. Accordingly, BOFAPA was negotiating to secure a bigger land to support their big dreams.
In an interview post the official opening of the show, Mr Letsweletse said securing spacious land would nudge accommodating all sorts agriculture and related activities in a bid to match or even surpass some of the renowned agricultural shows countrywide.
Yet, it was not a competition, but a drive to help a region, which has been marred by Foot and Mouth Disease and poor rainfalls as some impediments toward holding a show of such magnitude. It was against such backdrop that having gained traction from the initial inertia, BOFAPA has placed a beacon at the highest tower for all farmers to note.
“We have experienced a surge in number of exhibitors and partners coupled with quality exhibits…we had 22 stalls last year and we have 35 this year. It is growth,” Mr Letsweletse said.
The show, also for the first time registered arable farming exhibits. Additionally, the show saw an increase in exhibitors from outside Bobirwa. Unlike last year where there were only two exhibitors from Tonota, BOFAPA show welcomed exhibitors from Maunatlala, Topisi, Mahalapye and Artesia. According to Mr Letsweletse, BOFAPA does not only hold agric. show, they also teach members on the best farming practices, a move which saw an improvement in animal quality this year.
“We also taught farmers how to produce silage for free,” Mr. Letsweletse said, adding that they were mooting a plan where some member farmers would focus on feeds production.
As the area has reportedly been receiving low rainfalls impacting negatively on arable and pastoral farming; the challenge left the farmers with the onus of producing feeds while also tapping underground water. While BOFAPA were excited at the developments geared toward growing their brand and simultaneously thwarting challenges besieging them, Mr Thapelo Setlalekgosing of 4Ts Simmentalers, a stud bull farmer of Mookane, hailed glimpses of growth that BOFAPA exhibited.
Comparatively, Mr Setlalekgosi found BOFAPA show, in their second year, to be better than what Mookane Farmers Day at the same time. “We were not better than this in our second year, they are on a remarkable rise,” said Mr Setlalekgosi, who called on the BOFAPA to rise beyond the regional challenges and convince the nation that they were equally capable of staging a show of a national level.
“Their quality meets international standards… the quality of goats you see here can also be seen in Pretoria and Windhoek shows,” he said highlighting the quality of smallstock at the show though he missed the same with cattle.
He wished for cattle farmers to emulate smallstock farmers, saying animals brought for shows should be accorded the treatment akin to a contestant in a beauty pageant so that they met or even surpassed the set criteria. Although he read growth in the BOFAPA show, he advised that the show needed to be marketed and advertised extensively to attract not just farmers and patrons around Bobirwa and Botswana, but also regionally.
“They have a great location here, strategically a stone throw from the road and it’s accessible by all kind of vehicles,” he said.
The BOFAPA Show was held under the theme: Advancing sustainable farming through technology despite climate change.
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