Africa-Press – Botswana. Members of the SAMA cluster in the North East have been encouraged to consider leasing the land to commercial farmers in exchange for receiving monthly dividends.
Speaking during the 2025 North-East Expo held at SAMA cluster farms on Saturday, the Managing Director of Crosscorn, Mr Tebogo Motingwa also said farmers could plough more than enough and provide seeds for the next season as government was spending more than P65 million purchasing seeds from other countries to be supplied for free to local farmers.
In his welcome remarks, Kgosi Maruje III of Masunga reminded farmers that government coffers were dry.
“The reality is that the comfort zone is over and this must be accepted,” he said.
Kgosi Maruje III therefore urged farmers to reset their minds as government had been highly subsidising farming. The traditional leader implored farmers to put their farm in good use and produce more food to feed the nation. He requested that part of the 45 000 hectares of land bought by government from Tati Company should be declared agriculture Special Economic Zone.
Mosisedi Farmers Association chairperson urged farmers to make full use of their ploughing fields and employ good agronomic practices for better yields. Mr Gofaone Mapitse said this could be attained by enhancing soil through fertilisation to ensure adequate yield. He also recommended farmers to consult soil specialists to analyse and test soil composition so that they could understand its nutrient balance.
He encouraged farmers to take heed of advises from the crop production officers as government educated them to improve agricultural production in the country and through benchmarking in countries that were advanced in agriculture.
Mr Mapitse stated that COVID-19 has taught the country a lesson that if there was no enough food supply produced in the country, the population may diminish. He however said looking at the potential of the 700-hectare SAMA cluster, its harvest could reach P20 million based on the soil potential and could fill the Francistown silos.
In an interview, one of the farmers, Mr Shathiso Pharo said as farmers they were disappointed by low prices that government had set at the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB), which were also not negotiable. He noted that this year, he harvested 95 bags of sorghum, 55 bags of millet and 35 bags of maize, which he preferred to sell to individuals and milling companies than BAMB to avoid exploitation. Mr Pharo said there was low return on investment when selling to BAMB.
SAMA Cluster chairperson, Ms Christina Nsinamwa highlighted that SAMA Dryland Agricultural Association was registered in 2009 and government assisted to fence the 700-hectare piece of land owned by about 154 farmers. She said the challenge was that some fields within the cluster remained bushy as they were neglected. Ms Nsinamwa also said elephants destroyed their fence and crops.
The other challenge they experienced, she said, was farmers who left the gate open after harvest resulting in the destruction of the fence and soil by animals. She said some farmers did not pay the P120 year subscription that could be used for maintenance of the fence and construction of offices, conference and exhibitions stalls. The theme of the Expo was: Exploiting Wet and Dry Botswana: Introducing Smarter Farming Techniques in an Effort to Feed the Nation.
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