Talking about Conservation Agriculture

Impressed by the success of Paul Motseki, lead farmer of her group, Matseko Raseboko did a “U-turn” on her agricultural practices and adopted Conservation Agriculture (CA). Raseboko has been a farmer for years. She is 77 years old. This is the first time she is using CA methods and she is very happy about the coming season.

“My field looks very good. The maize plants look healthy and well developed,” she said with a large smile on her wrinkled face.
She planted 100% of her field – 0.4ha – using CA. She immediately dropped conventional practices when she saw the benefits of CA on Motseki’s land.

Raseboko is a widow, she had two children, one of whom died and the other is married and has her own family. Raseboko owns one cow and she grows veggies in the back yard of her house. In the past her relatives helped her to take care of her field. Now that she is a programme beneficiary in Lesotho of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and a member of the team led by Motseki, she gets help from the other members of the group.

In the previous years, she produced enough to sell her surplus to neighbouring villages. She says excitedly: “Now that I am doing CA, I am going to produce more and I will be able to sell more!”