From accountant to grain farmer in Botswana

Basadi Molelekeng is among the youngest black women farmers in Botswana to have succeeded as a dryland commercial producer. She explains how she ditched her office job for agriculture in northern Botswana, and how she juggled these demands with those of a young mother. Tshiamo Tabane reports.

Basadi Molelekeng’s daily commute to Kasane in northern Botswana, where she worked as an accountant, took her through the vast farmlands around Pandamatenga. As time went by, she became more and more intrigued by her surroundings and the idea of making a radical career change to farming in the area. This was in 2013. Today, at 35, Molelekeng is a fulltime commercial farmer, one of a new generation of producers in the country that can best be described as industrious, fearless and full of energy. These are exactly the traits that this landlocked, semiarid country is seeking to harness in its bid to produce more food for its people and for new markets.

SELF-TAUGHT

Molelekeng, who was born in Shoshong in Botswana’s Central District, describes herself as a selftaught farmer. She started dryland production on 260ha and now produces sorghum, beans and sunflower on more than 500ha. Her crop rotation also includes chickpeas and cowpeas.

She recalls that she started by answering an advertisement put out by the Chobe Land Board in Kasane calling for interested would-be commercial farmers.

“I applied for a 507ha farm in 2015, and the following year I was awarded the farm, where I’m currently farming,” says Molelekeng. “It was removal. I started by planting crops to 260ha, and the yield was good.

“The following year I continued clearing the bush until I’d finished the whole area.”

Pandamatenga, located some 900km north of Gaborone, has fertile black cotton soils and receives an annual rainfall of about 600mm, making it the ideal location for growing grain and other crops.

This is what led the Botswana government to start developing the area in 1984 by allocating more than 25 000ha to farmers as a way of boosting the country’s food security.

Pandamatenga accounts for more than 90% of grain production in Botswana.

The opportunities inherent in the area’s agricultural scheme are what attracted Molelekeng to enter farming full-time.

She never attended any formal training in agriculture, noting that, unlike most other commercial producers, she has no family roots in farming; her parents were teachers.

“I started by doing research and networking with other established commercial farmers. I have a good relationship with commercial farmers in Pandamatenga. When I have a challenge, I can call different farmers and agronomists for consultation and finally get a solution,” she says.

Molelekeng is keen to try other crops such as wheat, and expand production.

“I’m not too comfortable with the size of my farm! I feel that 500ha is too small, and I feel underutilised. I’m ready to expand,” she says, adding that 1 000ha more would be ideal.

But farming in Pandamatenga does not come without its challenges. “Sometimes, I have sleepless nights,” she admits.

Floods And Wild Animals

At first, recalls Molelekeng, she struggled with floods, which damaged her crops, but the Botswana government has since built water drainage infrastructure and developed internal roads to improve accessibility for farmers.

Pandamatenga’s proximity to some of the world’s most renowned wildlife sanctuaries, including Chobe National Park, also adds to Molelekeng’s challenges. Giraffes, eland, elephants and quelea birds destroy crops, raising the ire of many local farmers.

Queleas, in particular, invade farms in large swarms, feeding on ripe sorghum, sunflower and maize, and costing farmers a fortune.

Even so, Molelekeng says she remains undeterred, emphasising the value of maintaining a good relationship with other farmers and professionals in the industry.

“I’m a young mother with kids who are still small and need my attention,” says Molelekeng, whose husband died in a vehicle accident five years ago.

“It’s not easy but I’m trying. For example, I have to stay on the farm during the harvesting season, and can’t see my children. After the harvest, I finally get the chance to see them.”

Molelekeng’s bid to expand further has driven her to add livestock to her dryland farming operation, which now includes sheep and poultry (a combination of broilers and layers), albeit on a small scale. At first her poultry was meant just for family consumption, but she later decided to sell eggs to hotels in Pandamatenga and Kasane.

Fallout from the COVID-19 lockdown, however, hit the tourism business, and demand for eggs dropped, forcing her to reduce the number of her layers from around 1 500 to the current 200.

She also keeps guineafowl, and has horses for recreational purposes.

Due to the prices of inputs, from fuel to fertiliser, shooting up during 2022 and putting pressure on margins, Molelekeng is exploring diversification into crops that are cheaper to produce.

“Costs have skyrocketed. In the past two years, they’ve tripled! But the prices fetched for commodities produced on farms are stagnant, and it’s a serious challenge for us.

“As farmers we don’t have control over our margins because the prices are dictated by the buyers. The margins have been getting slimmer and slimmer over the years.”

Specifically, she is considering crops that can withstand drought conditions, command good prices overseas, and require fewer inputs.

“This year (2022) I exported mung beans in US dollars and it really benefitted me. The strong US dollar cushioned us,” says Molelekeng.

Some 65% of her 2021/22 sunflower seed and mung bean crop was exported, while the balance went to the local market.

“We don’t have good rainfall here, which means the yields are sometimes lower,” says Molelekeng.

“In fact, the weather here is not favourable, but we can thrive by focusing on crops that can survive during droughts. We also plant drought-resistant varieties.”

Production

Production on her farm starts with land preparation. This involves ploughing the soil and levelling it to prepare seedbeds.

After the first rain, Molelekeng sprays herbicide before planting begins. Fertiliser is then added to the soil. After germination, workers scout the crops for pests and weeds. Molelekeng prefers to remove the latter by hand, partly as a way to support her local community by providing people with jobs.

In the most recent season, Molelekeng says her beans yielded 1,75t/ha. This, according to her, was good, as the average for the crop was 1t/ha. Her sunflower yield was 1,6t/ha, also above average. She has 200ha under sunflower and 300ha under mung beans.

Currently, Molelekeng has five full-time employees on her farm, but during planting, weeding and harvesting she employs more than 60 casual employees.

Funding

She says the Botswana government’s Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development has been a great help by paying 30% of the cost of fertilisers and seeds. Absa Botswana has also assisted her by funding some equipment and providing an overdraft facility. “Before Absa, I was getting loans from development banks, but where they couldn’t help me, Absa chipped in and assisted.”

Molelekeng stresses that more people need to start commercial farming in Botswana. “That’s where our food [security lies]. If more farmers ventured into commercial farming, we’d have enough food for the local market and excess for export.”

Email

Basadi

Molelekeng at bicolorholdings@gmail.com. FW