April 2012.indd - Ministry of Agriculture

Maitseo DibebeWoman farmerArticle: France BegenselPhotos: Agripah Williemanuallyrow-plantsRaws of meandering linesof beans, groundnuts andmaize are testimony to what adedicated farmer Maitseo Dibebe is.The rows of crops fill the five hectorplanted field. All of these have beenplanted with hands and hoe (withoutusing a planter).As a demonstrator farmer, Dibebe,who was born in the 1930s, is adedicated farmer who has livedher life cultivating her field. Shehas always wanted to show peopleof Okavango that row planting isprofitable compared to the oldways of broadcasting. She revealsthat she realised a good harvest inthe previous years. Last ploughingseason alone, she managed to get35 of 50kg bags of beans. Even afterher husband’s passing away, shenever folded her arms, but remaineddetermined to produce food herself.She decided to stand up and becomeexemplary of what it means to be ademonstrator farmer.She ploughs her field using oxendue to lack of tractors in her extensionarea. Dibebe uses a hand held hoe todig holes to insert seeds and that haspaid off as she has not experiencedany problems with germination ofthe crops.Dibebe’s farm is used for pilotingseeds that are new in the area. Shehas currently planted a new varietyof beans (hybrid IT18) that wasintroduced only last year by theDepartment of Agricultural Research(DAR). The variety is doing well andit has been extended to other farmersin Xhaoga and Nxamasere extensionarea.She discloses that dryland farmingdoes not come easy. She says lackof tractors in Nxamasere is a bigchallenge. Though, she uses draughtpower, she faces problems as she hasno one to assist her.The Xhaoga resident says elephantsare a menace to her crops but hasimprovised with the use of chillies.She says it has helped a lot becauseelephants are disgusted by its smell.She says the chillies is crushed andmixed with used oil or diesel, afterwhich the pieces of cloth are soakedin the mixture and hang on the fencearound the field.As for the market, she encounteredproblems in selling her produce.Last year, she hoped to sell to theBotswana Agricultural MarketingBoard (BAMB) in Maun but lack oftransport was a major hinderance.Attempts to sell to schools also hit asnag as her produce failed the qualitytest for consumption in schools. She,however, sold and bartered some of itwith locals in exchange for produceshe did not have.The Agricultural Demostrator forNxamasere Extension area, MsBakang Autlwetse shared the samesentiments with her. She said mostof subsistence farmers’ produce gotspoilt due to lack of transport to takeit to BAMB. She has since met withthem to register their produce, toenable her organise transport whenthe need arises.She also said that farmers in thearea are very keen to plough pointingout that this Letsema alone, she hasregistered a good number of them.She revealed that a total of 816.83ha has been planted by 406 farmers,76 males and 330 females.She revealed that many of themhave been encouraged because ofincentives of the ISPAAD programme.She though decried lack of tractorsin the area saying that there is onlyone tractor based in Shakawe andthat the service center is far away inGumare. She noted that there is nosingle tractor in her extension area.April 2012 10