Joy returns after record drought
Baboki Kayawe | Friday February 10, 2017 11:31
The birds are chirping cheerfully. Butterflies flutter, their colourful wings adding to the reassuring greenery of healthy, growing crops and with the smell and sights, it is powerfully evident that life abounds here. The rain has fallen and life is good again.
The Mmegi news crew is in Llara fields, a few kilometres from Ramotswa in the South East district. Alphoncina Ramathu (79) is bubbling with confidence, as she hand pulls weeds from her field, a quiet satisfaction clear on her face. Though she is elated with the rains and prospects of good harvests, Alphoncina’s two hectares lie on very low and rocky land.
The situation is far removed from what it was a season ago, when the very same Mmegi news crew toured the South East, Kweneng and the Southern districts encountering exasperated, resigned farmers, many having abandoned their fields to weeds and preferring to sit under the shade of yet another heatwave. Botswana, particularly the south, was hit by six heatwaves in the 2015/16 season, driving many farmers out of the fields and into government-sponsored relief programmes.
For the first time in 14 years, SADC issued an international appeal for humanitarian aid, searching for P2.6 billion, of which Botswana put in a bid for P800 million, a rare request from a country that traditionally self-finances its drought relief.
But, as forecast by the Meteorological Services Dept., the rains have arrived.
Despite the poor terrain of her hectares, Alphoncina is buoyant. “This is a very good year, better than the last three years. Last year when I looked up at the sky, I saw hopelessness. That’s why I didn’t plough.”
According to Alphoncina, had it not been for the fact that the downpours have been unusually heavy, leading to the soil being overly soaked, exposing large stones as the tractor worked the surface, her crop would have germinated evenly. The farmer has planted maize and varieties of kidney and black-eyed beans on the field.
“As you see the seedlings have come out sparsely,” Alphoncina says, pointing to a spot where the young crops are emerging. “The plough went in too deep because of the excessive moisture, and the seeds descended deeper and were unable to germinate. I had to re-plant using hands,” she complains.
Nonetheless she looks forward to harvesting at least 10 bags (60kg) of maize and a 100kg of kidney and black-eyed beans. The old woman planted at the beginning of January, as she did not want to miss on the good rains.
However, she missed out on the assistance from the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD) as she used the broadcast seed method after tractor owners expressed concern that they will not be able to work on her rocky field. ISPAAD is a Government-funded agricultural inputs programme that annually ploughs millions of pula towards communal farmers, providing seeds, chemicals, fertilisers and tillage services, while ensuring efficient farming methods and climate sensitive crop decisions.
From the well-greened Llara field, past rural seasons marked by rotund small stock and cattle enjoying the healthy pasture, the tale of abounding agricultural life stretches to Metsimaswaane fields elsewhere in the district.
Kgosiemang Ditlhong (63) and his wife Mmankole Mogopa (60) are happily at work.
They too thank the rain gods for the downpours, the promise of good yields and the assurance that they will surely not feel the pinch of sorrow this year. “The cost of living is over the roof, and food is the most expensive commodity. So, we are very grateful that unlike in the past years, we won’t spend an arm and a leg on groceries,” says Mmankole. This cost saving notion comes with a price though, but the old-folks are ready to labour and even sweat blood to evade lining the pockets of supermarket owners. There are other drawbacks on the fields as well. “The disadvantage of these rains is that the soil becomes waterlogged.
There is barely any continuous sunshine and such conditions are very conducive for certain weeds and pests. “The weeds are too much. The two of us have to really cover quite a sizeable area in order to facilitate proper crop growth, or else the undesired plants will suffocate our crops,” the old woman says, never stopping from weeding away with her hoe. Kgosiemang and Mmankole have great expectations. The couple expects to harvest 28 bags of sorghum (each 50kg), about four 50kg bags of beans and 10 maize bags, an estimate based on what they got years back when rain clouds were heavy with life.
Though this year’s rains are destructive, Mmankole would rather slave here, than relive the dry years of lack. The realisation that the economy is doing bad, with job losses commonplace, keeps the sexagenarians in the fields.
“When the heavens answer prayers for rain like they did this year, the best thing a farmer can do is plant his seed. We can’t fold our arms and think our children will provide food; the uncertainty in the job market is unfathomable,” the old woman says.
“The only thing we will buy is toiletry.”
In Kweneng district, Chaokeng fields precisely, a “mega-farmer” Boitshoko Gabonewe is bristling from the good news she has heard on her battery-powered radio. The news announcer says government has extended the ploughing season, after initially closing it on January 31. The extension means further assistance under the ISPAAD programme, but the length of the extension and the late announcement mean few can benefit. The 60-year-old business-spirited former government employee procured an additional tractor five years ago under the ISPAAD programme, is paid to till other farmers’ lands, over and above her own. Boitshoko has rendered draught services to 50 fields so far, although she expects to plough for others not under ISPAAD. In all, she could bank P80,000. Her profit will be about P30,000, as the balance goes to an instalment for of one of the tractors, among other overheads. “It is a year of good rains. Many people have taken to the fields to make good use of them, but the major challenge has been that some days it rains all day such that we are not able to plough.”
Boitshoko has been an arable and pastoral farmer for 25 years, starting after the death of her parents, who were dedicated tillers of the soil. Her elder brother, a staunch farmer, also inspired her. “This is a year of plenty. I am expecting so much from my two fields; the biggest one is six hectares and the other is one and half hectares. Though many people have ploughed, the best thing to do is find alternatives and diversify markets,” she says.
The entrepreneur has eyes on agro-processing industries as a way of expanding the value-chain. In addition, as evasive plants and pests are a huge challenge brought by the rains, Boitshoko aspires to invest in farming machineries such as weed removal machines. “In a good year like this I expect lots of profits from maize, watermelons, sweet-reed, beans, and the animal feed I grow,” she says. Not only the old folks have taken advantage of the plentiful rains. In Polokwe lands in the Ngwaketse area - youngsters Thabo and Kabo Marumo – both 20-years-old, have taken shelter under a thick tree to cool off from the day’s hard work. “This is the only life we have known. Our parents produced their own food, we are following on their footsteps and we are grateful for the rains,” Thabo says.
Assisted by their father, the duo ploughed the traditional way using donkeys as draught power.
“We are tired but we know very soon it will be pay back time,” Thabo adds.
They two youngsters are awaiting their Form Five results with the same optimism the average farmer naturally has.
As the Mmegi news crew heads back to Gaborone, turning its back on the sun as it sets through the heavy clouds over Kweneng district, the smell in the air is not only of impending rain, but hope.