Pandamatenga, Botswana

Strengthening National Food Security

Established in 1998, the primary purpose of Masedi Farms was to lead the introduction of proven rainfed cropping techniques and management from low-rainfall Australian environments to Botswana. The Masedi Farms vision entailed using these techniques and systems to enhance food security by providing the foundation for well-adapted farming systems and reducing reliance on basic staple food imports. For the first four years, farm operational performance generally came well short of expectations, and in 2002, the reap Founders re-located from Australia to assume management control of Masedi Farms. Successful turnaround of this underperforming farm asset to profitability was contingent on addressing a broad array of factors – correctly balanced soils with good fertility management, suitable crop rotations, Controlled Traffic Farming plus No-Till (CTF+NT), excellent operational timeliness, well-informed and trained staff with strong ‘buy-in’ to the farm business objectives and moving up the value-chain to supply directly to grain end-users.

Challenges Resolved

Poorly balanced soil cation ratios negatively impacted crop yields.

For the first 4 years of project operations (1998-2002) consistently poorer-than-expected crop yields were achieved leading to year-on-year business losses. With a good understanding from late-2002 onwards of the underlying poor soil potassium balance, exacerbated by the normally dry seasonal conditions prevailing towards the end of the cropping season, cost-effective strategies were adopted to rectify this major crop yield constraint. This resulted in consistently higher crop yields that ensured strong farm profits from 2003.

Diverse crop rotations with strong legume component are essential.

Grain sorghum is the staple food grains crop of Botswana and well-adapted to this location. Arriving in 2002, the challenge for reap Founders was the monoculture system of grain sorghum production devoid of diversified rotation crops, especially legumes. Mungbeans, chickpeas and soybeans were successfully introduced into the cropping system, and almost two decades later, these same legumes continue to be integral to the enhanced national food security contribution from this key cropping region of the country.