Africa-Press – Lesotho. Mamafura Integrated Farm Founder Felepa Lebaka, located at Tsikoane is awed by the returns from his dedication in farming. Lebaka ventured into commercial farming in 2015 whereby he started by producing potatoes and expanded to sorghum in 2016.
He produced sugar beans and pinto on a larger scale in 2017, which came as a great breakthrough for him in farming. He says when he had harvested well, he would produce 70 bags of beans and would make over M40 000.
Lebaka noted that their beans received a very good market in 2017 to 2018. He added that they even received an offer from the World Food Program (WFP) which requested them to supply government schools with beans to feed students.
He also stated that in 2019 to 2020, they did business with a packaging company located in Leribe which bought their sugar beans to package them for resale.
Lebaka emphasized that unlike other crops, beans have been selling quite well for him as they have had a good market ever since he ventured into farming.
He attested that commitment and dedication to farming has benefited him having been one of the few farmers who produce well despite the climate change which has hit the country.
The multi-produce farmer, however noted that the only challenge they have been facing is getting market for vegetables. “But after hearing announcements by the Prime Minister that market should be opened for farmers, we are hopeful that there will be a change,” he said.
He noted that Lesotho, being a developing country, is struggling a lot in sectors like agriculture because farmers do not get much support from the government, therefore it is difficult for agriculture to improve.
He pointed out that what they need as farmers is for the government to create market Hubs across the country to boost commercial farming. He said market hubs can assist farmers in that after producing, they can now have a place where they can take their produce for sale.
“People will also know that when they need certain crops, they can just go to the market hub,” he said.
He said implementation of market hubs will motivate them a lot as farmers as they will feel free to produce on a larger scale without worrying about perishing crops. He noted that it will also keep them from selective cropping as they currently farm crops with better market like beans.
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