21 Jul 2021

Five hundred and eighty eight cattle is a great number of animals.

Add 144 goats, seven donkeys and 14 horses and you have a lot of life in a farm. This is the story of Chobokwane Farm, which barely two decades ago was but an empty stretch of land lying idle.

The land’s transformation is thanks to the government’s initiatives of empowering Remote Area Dwellers (RADS) through sustainable economic projects.

Chobokwane Farm, is but one beautiful story coming out of these remote areas.

When the government announced its various initiatives of empowering RADs, it allowed communities to decide what projects they wanted to do.

The residents of Chobokwane, which lies halfway between Ghanzi and Charles Hill, chose to have a cattle farm, as they believed it was the best business idea for their area.

“As residents, we also wanted something that could bring developments to our community; something that could benefit us,” said Chobokwane Community Trust Farm board vice chairperson, Mr Karintomba Tuvare.

With the help of the district council, the community was allocated a 16x8 kilometre farm.

The council further objectified the process and helped to stock, then run the farm until the community was able to run it by themselves.

The project commenced with 260 female cows and 17 bulls.

“At the beginning the council took care of the administration and management of the farm, including payment of employees and animal husbandry.

It was only when they were sure that we now had the necessary experience to run the farm that Council handed it over to us,” he said.

That experience required four years of learning, understudying council employees and consultants.

Learning from council staff was easy, and the temptation was to assume things would be as easy once they took over. The reverse was the case.

“Real learning came after the council handed over the farm; that’s when we learnt the true meaning of ownership and management; budgeting and administration proved to be very difficult undertakings and we had to learn to save money for incidentals and future use,” he said Today the farm employs seven workers who are responsible for all animals.

As the farm grew the Board decided to look into the promising small stock market to diversify their stock base.

It consequently resolved to buy goats.

“ Today we have 144 goats, 7 donkeys and 13 horses which we believe will prove they are worth the investment as time goes on.”

The shrewd board that they are, they also decided to buy a tractor and a truck, not only for use in the farm, but also for income generation through competing for projects with other businesses.

“We bid for tenders such as those for road clearance, and the money goes towards running the farm,” said Mr Tuvare.

And that’s a progressive idea by a forward-looking board.

With quarterly operational costs running to over P200 000, the board needs to think on its feet to keep the farm running.

The farm’s market includes Botswana Meat Commission, Government programmes’ beneficiaries, private farmers and individuals.

Farm Manager Mr Ogolotse Derek said they created 6 paddocks to control grazing and quarantine of animals ready for sale. Never forgetting its intended purpose of improving the lives of community members, and bringing development, the farm has through its social investment drive been identifying and building houses for the village’s most needy.

“We have managed to build five one-roomed houses for the destitute in the village.

We also pumped P50 000 into the local cooperative society.” Other beneficiaries include the village primary school and a string of individuals.

“We are more convinced than ever, that this was not an investment in vain, and we have no doubt it will continue to bear good fruit,” said Mr Derek.

And the prospects look good indeed. Already the Board is looking at talking to the Department of Veterinary Services to provide artificial insemination services, and to plant fodder to reduce the cost of feed. ENDS