SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund Botswana, a non-profit organisation has just completed a five-day capacity-building training for a women farmers association in Quqao village that have embarked on a horticulture project.
The workshop was meant to empower the beneficiaries to be self-sufficient in food production and also play a role in ensuring Ngamiland region attains food security and successful horticultural enterprises.
The key stakeholders in the project are the department of Agri-business promotion, department of crop production and out of school Education Training (OSET) which facilitates the beneficiaries with basic vegetable production training, agriculture management, farm management, business management and financial management skills.
The organization’s Community Development Officer, Tirelo Ramasimong has explained that they have observed that women can lead the agricultural sector by creating new products and services which would help create employment, leading to economic development and growth.
Ramasimong said that the training has provided women in the village with the necessary knowledge and skills to support them to excel in their business ventures.
According to Ramasimong, the beneficiaries intend to commercialise their horticulture project and to supply different businesses in Ngamiland with their products.
He added that the beneficiaries have acquired a 10-hectare land that will be used for the project and so far Save Wildlife Conservation Fund has fenced one hectare of the land and further solar electrified it. He noted that they will also assist the beneficiaries with cultivation and provide them with dry crops so that they can to utilise the rainy seasons.
So far, a total of 18 women have attended the capacity-building trainings, and beneficiaries have joined forces in the producing food through their agricultural association with common goals of developing the economy through agriculture. The Department of Agribusiness Promotion will be an overseer in the project by promoting a commercialised, diversified, sustainable and competitive agricultural enterprise.
SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund Botswana has so far launched women empowerment projects in the villages of Nxaraga, Quqao and Matsaudi in a bid to empower women to be self-sufficient. The projects include vegetable cultivation, chicken farming and crafts.
