FARMER VENTURES INTO ECO-TOURISM GARDEN
Driven by deep desire to utilize her skills and create employment, Oboammaaruri Mulale established an outdoor events garden in her farm in Kgatleng.
She started operating her garden named Epic Eco Garden in 2018, funded through her personal savings. The garden is located in a prime area along Oodi-Modipane main tarred road. Among the major services featured include, parties, weddings, swimming and other outdoor activities for all age groups including children. She told the Business Trends that she ventured into Agro tourism after government’s policy where farms can use a portion of their land and make use of their gardens for leisure activities. “I started with poultry business and after a few months, since I am an outdoor and outgoing person, decided to turn my farm into an outdoor events garden. I started hosting my friends and other guests. It was a way of cushioning lack of outdoor events garden that are in my area. And since my farm is located just in a prime area, I decided to venture into outdoor events centre.”Mulale holds a master’s degree from University of Botswana in Human Resource Management. She started saving with her spouse in 2015 to establish a farming business. Currently, she has three citizen employees, gardener, landscaper and general garden worker. Among the challenges, she picks the outbreak of Covid-19 which has limited the number of customers. The garden opens on Saturdays and Sundays. “We are now limited with a number of guests per event and so we cannot host extra groups of clients beyond 50. So we are losing a lot of business,” In future, she wants to increase her outdoor activities to attract other guests who visit the garden. “Also I would like to add an extra agricultural yard where I can have guests to enjoy their view and be able to have Mentorship to those who want to venture into mixed farming activities. I would also love to venture into government outdoor activities where I will be able to host workshops and other outdoor team building activities,” she said.