Panda farmers look forward to bumper harvest

Mbongeni Mguni | Monday February 6, 2023 06:00

With about 40,000 hectares of prime black cotton soil and one of the country’s highest average rainfall amounts, the Pandamatenga commercial agriculture area is an arable farming paradise. And this year the area has again delivered the goods for the country, at a time when crops in other regions are wilting under the heat stress of the now all-too-common mid-season dry spell.

For this year’s harvest, the Pandamatenga Commercial Farmers Association (PCFA), which represents 30 farmers in the region, expects production across cereals and pulses to reach 77,178 tonnes, compared to 76,600 tonnes in the 2021–22 season. In the 2020–21 season, farmers produced 85,841 tonnes, suggesting that after last year, this season’s production is a rebound to better output levels.

The cereals and pulses include sorghum, wheat, cowpeas, chickpeas, mungbeans, sunflower, and others.

Total national cereal demand is about 300,000 tonnes per year, while Pandamatenga’s production is well below the figure. For certain crops such as sorghum, the national staple, the north-western hub has achieved national self-sufficiency.

“We have an increase for this year that we are forecasting and we have to think about value addition,” PCFA CEO, Lilian Scheepers said this week.

“The decrease in production in 2021–22 was mostly due to the costs of inputs such as those around pesticides and fertilisers.

“When these costs are high, it means farmers use less of the inputs and this impacts their yields.”

Established in 1984 when government allocated virgin bush to commercial farmers, Pandamatenga has grown to become the country’s bread basket, being the hub of cereal production. The farmers in the area are battle-hardened pioneers who invested their capital and skills into creating the backbone of the country’s food security.

Out of the 40,000 hectares, just 890 hectares are irrigated and other infrastructure limitations mean the farmers have, for years, relied on their sweat and the benevolence of the heavens.

“There has been an effort made by farmers to increase irrigation to nearly 1,000 hectares, which brings about its own challenges,” said Scheepers.

“Panda does not have power and farmers have had to develop their own.

“There has therefore been investment made by farmers in solar or diesel generators to pump water.”

Pandamatenga’s estimated harvest this year is about one percent above last year’s output. However, within the different categories of crops planted, the differences in output yield vary widely. For instance, the expected sorghum harvest this year is about 42,100 tonnes or 11% higher than last season. Forecast wheat output is nearly 30% higher than last year while sunflower is expected to be up by 11% and chickpeas by 60%.

On the other end of the scale, cowpea production could be down 44% this year, while mungbeans are expected to be down by 61%. Mungbeans are a type of legume known for their nutritive value and high in protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals.

Of particular interest to Batswana, however, is the nation’s staple, sorghum. National consumption ranges between 30,000 and 50,000 per annum and Pandamatenga has traditionally been able to satisfy the demand with exports in some years. The staple crop, however, represents a dilemma for commercial farmers.

“Farmers don’t make profits from sorghum because the costs of producing it are high while the biggest buyer is the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board whose prices have not changed over the years,” Scheepers said.

“That’s why farmers also plant other cereals.”

Along with other cereals, horticulture production has been increasing at Pandamatenga, as farmers have responded to the national demand. This year, 86 hectares have been planted with various horticulture varieties ranging from tomatoes, butternut, green pepper, cabbage, onions and potatoes, to garlic and even mangoes.

The cereal hub is diversifying in response to government’s call for greater self-sufficiency in horticulture, as seen in the import restriction of 16 vegetables enacted in January 2022. However, while their distribution lines for cereals and pulses are established, being largely through the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB), the route to market for horticulture is proving fraught with challenges for farmers in Pandamatenga.

“We are producing horticulture, maybe not in quantities required by the country, but the farmers have started investing in infrastructure and systems for it.

“We can produce quality products but there’s a high cost behind this and with our infrastructure challenges, this issue goes to pricing.

“The retailers are imposing their prices and they even threaten not to buy the product from the farmer if the farmer does not comply with the price,” Scheepers revealed. According to the farmers, in one instance a supermarket was insisting on buying prepacked tomatoes at P9 per kilogramme while selling the same at P22 per kilogramme, even though the farmer was expected to also pay for packaging, storage and transport to the shelf. Scheepers says another farmer who was contracted to supply onions found himself bearing most of the costs of the deal, in packaging, storage and transport, while the retailer made a 30% profit and also had the luxury of picking and choosing when to accept supply or not.

“The farmers don’t have the infrastructure to store the excess and I saw with my own eyes tonnes and tonnes of waste, rotten produce,” the CEO said.

“If we don’t get the retailers to work with us, we are going to be slaughtered.”

The troubles Pandamatenga farmers are facing in horticulture echo those confronting their colleagues in smaller holdings across the country. The country has experienced frequent shortages of vegetables and price increases since the import restriction began, with retailers partly being blamed for disrupting the supply chain through unreasonable price demands.

With one year left until the import restrictions elapse, Batswana are hoping the ‘farm to fork’ supply chain model finally kicks into gear. Pandamatenga farmers are hoping the success they have enjoyed with cereals and pulses can translate to horticulture.