Morake passionate horticulturalist

Ms Minky Morake, a horticulturalist at Masama lands near Serowe says horticulture plays a vital role in modern agriculture. She plants various vegetables, herbs, cucumber, fruits, decorative plants, peanuts, maize, water melons, green pepper, chilies within a seven hectare chunk of land. Her work is promising and she is determined to take the industry to greater heights.

She started her business two years ago, using money from her pocket and her family. Ms Morake only acquired a big shade net from the then Temo-Letlotlo government programme. Born and raised in Serowe, Ms Morake says that greenhouse technology has initiated various interventions aimed at enhancing food and nutrition security and combating starvation in the country.

She notes that horticulture is one of the sectors chosen by government as a priority for agricultural diversification and employment creation. The sector, she adds, has also been chosen for value chain development as a means of supporting private sector development through which more value can be unlocked. She notes that agriculture was customarily perceived to be a primary sector that can help the country’s disadvantaged communities to escape the realities of poverty and problems of unemployment.

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“I fell in love with farming at a young age when our parents always took us along to our cattlepost in Tshoswaane. We looked after livestock and planted as well. We thought they were abusing us, but I eventually loved it,” Ms Morake recalls.

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