20 Jan 2020

It is rare for professionals, except for the likes of doctors and lawyers, to continue with their professions after retiring from the public service.

Most of these professionals turn to agriculture to sustain their lives after retirement.

This is the case with a journalist, a writer, a well-known name on the Internet.

This story is about Mr Leatile Mathew Chamo of Tonota.

One would wonder what made this man leave the spotlight and become a farmer in a remote village?

Mr Chamo was born in Tonota in 1961 as the last born to pastoral farmers, Mr Keotshokile and Ms Shadi Chamo from Tholwana ward.

Mr Chamo himself began writing stories related to village life quite early.

Like any other young boy growing up in Botswana, Mr Chamo spent most of his time at the cattle post looking after his father’s cattle during school holidays.

“It looks like my father had wanted me to become a farmer like him, and he tried his best to keep me and my brothers at the lands during school holidays,” he said.

During those days, Mr Chamo liked studying and he would find numerous stories there that made him find solace in the village.

“I loved writing stories since childhood.

And you can say that villages have a lot of raw material for writers.

But even though I belonged in the village, my father never let me live there.

May be this was the reason why I always longed to live in a setting,” says Mr Chamo.

Mr Chamo graduated in Communication and Media Studies from Monash University in Johannesburg in 2011.

Prior to that in 1994, he was in England for a Diploma in Journalism.

He held several positions in the Department of Information Services and retired in 2017 as the bureau chief for the northern region.

He had also attended Polytechnic College before having a stint at Barclays Bank of Botswana and joining the then Department of Tirelo Sechaba as a broadcaster and as a secondment from the then Department of Information and Broadcasting.

During all these years somewhere within, there was still something missing.

Mr Chamo used to tell his colleagues how he wished he could live a simple life in his village and also do something for the community.

There was a dream shaping up in his mind for his village since 2017 when he concluded that he had to retire after 34 years in the public service.

This reporter caught up with him to check what life had for him.

Now at the age of 58, Mr Chamo is practicing integrated farming at his 10-hectare farm at Dikgonyeng lands, some 15 kilometres outside Tonota, along the Francistown/Gaborone road.

“It was something that I have long planned and I have wanted to retire at 45, but something cropped up.

I postponed to 50 and again postponed to 56.

I thought I had done my part by working for the government,” he added.

Mr Chamo said farming had always been in his mind, so by retiring, he wanted to be a hands-on farmer not an absent one.

“I consider my herd boys as my assistants.

So I am the herd boy myself.

I give directions and interact with them and we enjoy each others company,” he added with a smile.

He has paddocked his farm into two.

The first five hectares is for crop production while the other is for poultry production and for rearing small stock.

Under crop production, Mr Chamo grows a plethora of crops such as beans, lablab, maize, water melons, melons, sunflower and sweet reed.

He explained that his integrated method is based on a more organic, self-sustaining approach.

After farmers grow and harvest crops, they feed livestock the fodder/grain and grass from the fields, which results in nutrient-rich dung and urine that serves as an organic fertilizer for growing new crops.

He then repeats the process.

Over time, this revitalises the soil structure and replenishes important nutrients for plants to grow, as well as provides a steady source of healthy feed for livestock.

“Five hectares is manageable and I take care of all the corners even though drought is a major challenge,” he added.

Mr Chamo’s farm is well fenced and animals are not a problem for the crops, especially that he is constantly at the farm.

He has started constructing a 15 to 20 litres water reservoir to harvest rain water to augment the water for watering the goats.

Mr Chamo also has a plan to drill a borehole on the farm, which he has already surveyed but interestingly his modern farm house is sitting right on the surveyed water point.

So he is caught up between demolishing the house or looking elsewhere for another water point.

“But I can’t do that.” This bring up the logic of surveying the water point before putting up a structure because water is a source of life,” he added.

Gradually, Mr Chamo has started reaping the fruits of his sweat.

Last year he sold 10 goats and with the over P10 000 he got he develop his field.

Mr Chamo says he tries by all means not to miss anything found in Tonota when he is at Dikgonyeng lands.

He has built himself a modern small farm house which is connected to a solar power.

The farm is also strategically located as it is near the main road and is just a stone throw away from Tonota, which provides a lucrative market for his produce.

The area is also connected to all the network providers available in Botswana, which makes communication easier with clients and other stakeholders.

He has employed three people, two at the farm and the other one looking after his cattle and goats.

As he spreads his wings in agriculture, he intends to employ more people to help fight unemployment.

“This is not to say everything is covered with roses in farming, there are challenges that call for determination and perseverance, it is tough here,” he says.

Mr Chamo’s advice to those still in formal employment is to retire whilec still strong enough to continue being productive.

“It is hard to become rich just by earning a salary, he concludes. ENDS