Date
12/1/2020 2:54:47 PM
(MENAFN- The Post) MASERU -After hearing people such as Her Majesty, Queen 'Masenate Mohato Seeiso, talk about the need for Basotho to plant more trees, 'Mampeoana Mokete sensed an opportunity.
Unemployed and facing poverty in a country where jobs are scarce, she decided to heed the call.
'I knew I had to do something to supplement our paltry family income,' said the 23-year-old from in Ha Patsa in Mafeteng.
Mokete said she attended a two-week training programme at the Ministry of Forestry in the district in 2019.
'We were trained on how to produce the best trees that can sell on the market. I am no longer idle. I don't have any time to waste because the work requires diligence. There is a lot of science that goes into it,' she said.
'I started with 23 000 trees but only 18 000 survived. The others died but this project has helped me put bread on the table for my children,' said Mokete, who sells most of her trees to the Ministry of Forestry for M30 each.
'The ministry buys in large quantities so it's a good customer,' she said.
She also sells to individuals who like to plant the trees at their homes, although she concedes competition is tough.
'We are many farmers dealing with trees out there. We compete for the government's lucrative market,' said Mokete, who specializes in producing peach trees.
Minister of Forestry Motlohi Maliehe said his ministry was established in 2003 to 'blanket' the whole country with trees because the country does not have enough.
Previously, the minister said his ministry used to produce trees on its own but later decided to cede the project to individual producers because it was battling to meet its targets.
'We gave 80% of the work to individuals while 20% was left with the ministry,' he said, inviting more people to approach his ministry to join the scheme, especially unemployed youths.
The minister said he encourages youths to plant fruit trees because they could help to fight hunger and create jobs at the same time.
Maliehe said his ministry spends about M10 million on tree planting every year, noting that some people 'have made a fortune' from the business.
'Those people have bought cars and they have (a better) life,' the minister said.
He gave the example of fruit trees from Mahobong which are now being exported to South Africa, where clients queue for them.
'The market is there, we are unable to satisfy it because of our low production capacity,' he said.
Majara Molupe
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