By Kefiloe Kajane
Tholoana Orchard Society is an agricultural cooperative under the National University of Lesotho (NUL) Innovation Hub formed to invest in and own fruit orchards.
The chief executive officer of the cooperative, Retṧepile Matamane, says the cooperative intends to acquire suitable lands of the kingdom to grow specially selected herbs which will be harvested and processed to produce herbal teas and essential oils.
He said suitable lands will be acquired and a team of specialists will inspect the fields to provide a prescription of which fruit trees will be suitable for respective soil type. He said a variety of fruit orchards will be established such as grapes, peaches, pears, strawberries as well as rose-hips.
He said the plan is that alongside every orchard, factories will be established to process the fruits into different products such as wines, fruit juices, dried fruits, oils, jams, canned fruits and so on.
“Members will become shareholders in every business that will be established by the cooperative. Shareholding will be built through monthly contributions of M50 each share in a month. If one is interested in buying three shares per month, the member will be paying M150 every month until they decide to increase or decrease the contribution. Members will decide on whether to increase or decrease their contribution. Dividends will be based on each member’s shareholding at any given moment in time.
“Any Mosotho citizen with the right Identification Documents (ID/Passport) and a functioning bank account in any of the banks in Lesotho can be a member. This is because Lesotho’s Cooperatives Act does not allow membership of non-citizens. Paying M250.00 (M200 membership fee + M50 shareholding) to the cooperative’s bank account [account 9080007805930*, Standard Lesotho Bank, Roma Branch, Branch Code 062867]. Payments can be made at any Standard Lesotho Bank branch in Lesotho or via electronic fund transfer (EFT),” Matamane explained.
He further explained that members will select the amount of shareholding they are willing to pay monthly to buy shares. He said members will also select the time of the month when such payment should be made, which is where the amount will be automatically withdrawn from their account on a monthly basis and will contribute to their shares.
Matamane said currently the cooperative have 40 members. He appealed to Basotho to join as this will change the future of the next generations.
He said for further details about how to join the cooperative, those interested can connect with him through the WhatsApp number +266 63629058 or visit https://www.tholoanaorchards.co.ls/register to register.
