• Commonwealth:
• Farming for the country and not the individual

Farming for the country and not the individual

3 July 2008

Business training is given to farmers in Botswana so they can identify where there is demand - both at home and abroad – for farm produce

Despite often owning large areas of land, many farmers in Botswana only choose to cultivate a few acres, as that is all they need to feed their own families.

While this farming practice is appropriate in so far as these families are able to remain self-sufficient, consequences of their actions are that the rest of the country is not getting fed by home-grown products and potential opportunities for valuable export earnings are missed.

“With the current world food crisis we may get to a point where we simply won’t have the produce to feed the nation,” says Kelebonye Tsheboeng, Chief Agricultural Economist at Botswana’s Ministry of Agriculture.

“By farming their land more effectively farmers will generate better incomes for themselves and will also help the country’s economy as these products can be exported.”

Home-grown

Botswana – which currently only produces 15 per cent of the grain it consumes - is largely reliant on neighbouring countries like South Africa for many crops, fruits and vegetables.

As part of their efforts to encourage rural landowners to farm more of their land, the Ministry of Agriculture approached the Commonwealth Secretariat for help in training farmers to manage their farm businesses more effectively.

This Commonwealth training, which took place throughout 2007, was conducted by Timothy Williams, Head of the Secretariat’s Enterprise and Agriculture Section. The aim of the training was to assist farmers to improve their farm management skills, especially farm business planning and market analysis, which will assist them to identify opportunities to sell various produce in both national and international markets.

Basic business management

Because this training could not logically be given to each farmer dotted around rural areas, the Secretariat’s teaching targeted extension officers, who were then placed across the country by the Ministry of Agriculture to pass on the basic skills of business management to farmers.

They were taught to identify what products there is a market for; the level of demand; how to keep records; and how to produce business plans.

“The extension officers continue to train farmers to this day. They teach them to identify available resources and what they should focus on producing depending on the local environment and demand,” explains Boitumelo Makuyana, Principal Agricultural Economist at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Botswana’s government has also set aside funding for farmers who need initial credit to expand their businesses. To qualify for this financial assistance farmers have to demonstrate proven business skills that they can implement on their farms.

The training received from extension officers posted all over the country provides them with all of these necessary skills so they can receive the funding and go on to produce more crops to be sold both at home and abroad.