AfPride Farming Solutions

THINKING OUT LOUD

COMMERCIAL FARMING

In this article i’m just thinking out aloud, please bear with me.

Before we delve into this issue, please allow me to at least clarify something about commercial farming.

As much as it can be about passion, primary goal of commercial farming is income, because of the heavy financial investments needed to get into this sector, the worst you can do for yourself is to fail BREAK EVEN and the best thing is to make profits.

Unlike subsistence farming where we sell surplus, in commercial farming the goal is to sell everything and realise some monetary value. This bring in the need to strategically approach the whole system considering market, type of crops, varieties, fertilizers, chemicals, rotation, backup, budgeting, expansion, marketing, farm accounting, agricultural economics, the opportunity costs that’s comes with changes and expansion etc… the list is endless.

Again commercial farming always comes with either high volumes or high standards which can be challenging to attain without proper management.

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

First things first!!! The move to stop vegetable imports was a great move for local farmers, it gave us as farmers a more level playing field to compete for our local vegetable market. It eliminated the unfair completion we faced in terms of volumes. Imports came cheaper because they we being produced in very large volumes , a factor which we haven’t attained yet which again defines commercial farming as stated on the intro

The next move was government funding, kudos BWgovernment . This initiative propped a lot of farmers, stabilised and covered the gap and vacuum that was created by closing down the imports.

Dozens of months later we still haven’t reached our full potential yet. Get me right, we are doing our best, we are working flat out to feed the nation but considering the amount of money the government has dedicated to this sector, the number of graduates being capped at Botswana University of Agriculture & Natural Resources year in year out and the number of students doing agricultural studies we should be doing wonders, trust me on that one!!!!!

BRIDGING THE GAP

After the funds have been disbursed to the farmers , I believe we are omitting the most critical phase of the process which is the production phase where we utilise what we got from the government

THE PRODUCTION.

Sometimes it feels like we are hanging out the farmers to dry after giving them inputs and equipment. Most of these farmers are not equipped with knowledge or the workforce to survive the brutalities of farming. Obviously during this phase farmers have to depend on Balemisi, but is it enough?

Looking at the ratio of FARMERS PER MOLEMISI RATIO, we are not doing justice. Balemisi will always do their best, they will give their all, but, there is so much someone can do, considering the area they have to cover, the number of farmers they have to deal with, the varieties of crops they have to take into account, the paper and office work they have to do (I’ve worked in the government sector before, I really do understand)… it’s a bit too much. In the end farmers have to try their best under the circumstances with little to no supervision and assistance, despite having forked out crazy amounts of money.

Truth be told, very few farmers are able to employ and pay a fulltime qualified professional because of the scale at which we are producing (remember that commercial farming factor we said earlier?)

That being said, I feel like we need to do more to bridge that gap between Molemisi and the farmers to enhance productivity.
Why not incorporate that mentorship/consultancy/ supervision to be part of the funding package????? Where we say on that 50% 50% we are paying company XYZ to assist farmers with mentorship and consultancy to meet a certain standard that we set. Company XYZ will be operating on behalf of the government reporting back to Balemisi and ultimately to the Ministry of Agriculture

A situation where we say company WYZ will be responsible for the 3-4 production (1 year) cycles in this area, with this amount of control on the farm, provided they can be able to have a ratio of, 1 qualified mentor/ supervisor per 5 farms so that they don’t have to be working under enormous workload. What it means is, all those coming from BUAN can be incorporated into the sector, it means Balemisi can act as an oversight committee to oversee and do paperwork for evaluation and analysis.

This trick will help us steadily raise our standards/ quality and volumes and eventually open up export routes for us

This will also help stop the issue of giving the same variety of crop from pandamatenga to barolong despite having different climatic conditions because now, proper and accurate analysis can be done.

This can even be done to livestock production

CONCLUSION

This arrangement can minimise losses and enhance productivity. It will as well make full use of all those graduates who are not yet employed,

We have the potential to compete on the international markets (E.U. & U.A.E )

We have the government willing to finance us and make the environment as conducive as possible. Lets make the best out of it.

At AfPride Farming Solutions , we love you all
Good luck everybody as we strive to feed the nation.

And as I said... Im just thinking out loud fela.
Until next time
Im out!!!!!
Pride
72 650 987

National Development Bank - NDB
Ministry of Agriculture BW

Agricultural sector will start to really benefit us once we start to "really professionalize" it.

On this one I'm talking about doing proper market research and assessment to get the idea of what consumers and buyers really want.

The main weak link right now is between the production plans of the farmer and the preference of the buyer. Farmers end up producing things that they find hard to market.

This is worsened by the aggressive advertising by input suppliers who want to push their own products and increase their profits at the expense of farmers.
Farmers become victims of misinformation by service providers and input suppliers they end up going for expensive varieties, unsustainable production methods/ systems that may not prove to be as profitable as promised (be a millionaire in 12 months).

Let's be honest, mode of production / chain of production is not the main determining factor when consumers a choosing to buy our produce. With the current economic situation, price and quantity are the main factors that determine which product they are going to choose. Very few care about the variety, soil type,hydroponics, chemical control of pests etc. They want affordable produce.

However most farmers are pushed into getting expensive varieties that cut back their profits, setting up production systems that prove to be overpriced because they listen to the wrong side of the chain.

We listen to someone who Will say this variety will give you very big fruits, but when you get to the market they might want only medium sized fruits

We listen to someone who will say buy this system from me, its expensive because it produces fruits that have very very long shelf life, but when you get to the market you realise that they don't care about your very very long shelf life. They just want cheaper fruits.

Do your assessment right, do your market research well. That way you know what the market wants, you know what to give the market

Until next time
I'm out!!!!
Pride
72 650 987

DECISION MAKING

Debates on why to grow this crop instead of that one, why the market is flooded and what needs to be done are always raging. Truth be told., that subject hasn't been addressed well.

A lot of times we've seen decisions of choosing crops being based on being "different", "unique" or "there is no much of broccoli in shops" and the worst.... " people eat everyday"!!!!!!!!

However the idea of choosing crops is not centered around those. It is a decision that has to be made after looking at several factors that can determine the failure, success and the sustainability of the project. We are going to look at some of the factors.

PROFITABILITY.
This is the main factor that people would want to look at and rightly so. This is where we look at the return per p**a invested.
How are the profit margins.

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS
How are the weather patterns in your farmng area, do the temperatures allow you to do a certain crop,
Does the rainfall pattern favour the crops you want to grow. In the end grow crops that can, not only survive, but thrive in that weather/climate

RESOURCES /EQUIPMENT /INFRASTRUCTURE
Do you have the proper infrastructure to do a certain crop. Some crops need to be done under greenhouse, no matter how profitable they may be. Without the required things, you have to fore go them. Balance things out and find the next profitable and POSSIBLE crop.

TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE
Do you know how to grow that certain crop? No matter how profitable and having the infrastructure, do you know how to take that crop from being a seed till harvesting. Facebook is now awash of pictures being posted with the now common caption "balemi ke dire jang" or "selling cabbage for livestock" . And if we were to admit, by then, the damage will be irreversible.
This is one of main reasons behind most losses right now

LOCATION.
Where is your farm located and where is your market. Are you selling at your farm or transporting from the farm. If selling at the farm which crop are you likely to sell in that area.

If you are transporting, how far is the farm and how often do you have to travel for that certain crop. Is it worth the traveling, looking at the returns and the volumes. A crop might be profitable, you have the knowledge and equipment, but, you will have to make those long journeys to the farm more often to a point where it becomes unprofitable. This is where look at crops that allow that once a week or even those crops you harvest in a short space of time rather than the constant travels over a long period of time.

Again, some crops that can be used for fancy meals are more likely to be bought in Maun than in Molepolole. This is simply because of the tourism industry that is thriving in Maun. Agree or not, you will sell more cauliflower in Maun than you would in Molepolole

CONNECTIONS
When you are struggling with your crop and being turned away from every other shop, those same shops may be calling simeone to bring in some produce. The same produce they told you that they dont want. This is the reality we don't want to admit. Sometimes those connections can determine which crop to grow

SALVAGEABLE CROPS
This is something every start up farmer should consider. Some crops are salvageable, foe examples.. With cabbage you make dried vegetables, tomatoes you make tomato puree, maize you boil then dry it to make "lechothlo" (sp).
These secondary products can still be sold at a later date to try and trim back losses that may arise due to flooded market....
However some crops do not give you that chance, once you fail to sell thats it, you have lost. Its now up to you to see if you are capable of getting back into production after loosing or you need to play safe and stick to salvageable crops

SOIL TYPE
This is a more basic subject, some soils are not suitable for some crops hence the need to stick to to suitable ones

COMPLEMENTARY CROPS
Some crops compliment each other in such a way that having one crop will promote the selling of another. Try to think of having tomato and green pepper at the same time. To some extent selling one of them will convince the buyer to buy the other because they can simultaneously prepared in the same meal. This might be a reason to choose growing them.

WEATHER CONDITIONS
In some areas, weather conditions might now allow growing of certain crops during certain times of the year, no matter how profitable, you will still habe to avoid them during those periods

PEST AND DISEASE PREVALENCE AND MANAGEMENT
Choice of crop may be determined by the prevalent pest and diseases in the area. One might end up growing a crop that cannot be affected or resistant. Some crops maybe used as control measures on pests eg onions..

POPULATION.
The general pop**ation again can dictate in what quantities do we grow something. Most people want to copy the scale of production they saw in SA forgetting in SA they have a bigger pop**ation and have acces to export routes which we do not have.. We will be selling amongst ourselves until we secure our own export routes and destination

CONCLUSION

These are some, not all, of the factors that can help you choose which crop to grow based on your situation.
I highly suggest you desist from basing your choices on being "different and unique" as different and unique will not have market value.
The issue of I've seen it in S. A. SHOULD STOP!! Go and benchmark, come back and adapt to what suits you. Do what you can do, do what you need to do.
Your production needs to be tailor made to suit you, your pocket, your environment and your market.

Till then.
Im out
PRIDE!!!!

72 650 987

When we say, "Your crop requires 150kg N/ha". We mean the amount of fertilizer required by the plants not the anount to be applied to the soil.

The amount that gets to the plant will vary due to different factors

*nitrogen contents in different fertilizers
*soil type (nitrogen is highly mobile once it gets in contact with water,) in sandy soils it tends to leach/wash away beyond root zone
*mode of application and application strategies
*Residual nutrients that are already in the soil etc..

A good calculated approach needs to be done to avoid under application or wastage of fertilisers.

Be wiser..

Until next time
Im out

Pride
72 650 987