Our People
We love farming and everything that goes with it – the warm sunshine, the smell of the soil, and the ache in our muscles at the
end of a good day's work. We love the gusty wind, dust and lightning that announces the arrival of precious rain.
We love the intellectual demands of understanding soil fertility, the role of micro-organisms and ecosystem relationships.
The miracle that happens when tiny seeds burst into life keeps us going daily.
The farmersend of a good day's work. We love the gusty wind, dust and lightning that announces the arrival of precious rain.
We love the intellectual demands of understanding soil fertility, the role of micro-organisms and ecosystem relationships.
The miracle that happens when tiny seeds burst into life keeps us going daily.
Jan Stiglingh
Jan Stiglingh, managing director and founder of Lucerne Fields, is an avid farmer passionate about the agriculture sector and people alike. Jan's vision and love of the land he was raised in led to establishing one of Botswana's foremost agriculture enterprises.
Lucerne Fields reflects Jan's courage, determination and commitment to building a successful, sustainable farming business that contributes to the region's economic, social and environmental well-being. His perseverance and leadership abilities motivate the management team and staff to go the extra mile despite the numerous daily food production difficulties in a challenging environment.
Not afraid to make bold decisions, Jan believes in making long-term investments to respond to industry needs. He is known to build solid and reliable relationships with staff, suppliers and clients, which is one of the foundations of the business.
Manjo Stiglingh
Director Manjo Stiglingh joined the company in 2020. She supports the operational management activities on the farm and is responsible for developing and implementing the sustainability agenda at Lucerne Fields. Her experience in the international organic agriculture sector contributes to the latest research on deploying organic and regenerative agriculture interventions, which are critical to improving the farm's resilience to climate change and reducing business risk.
Manjo is passionate about food value chains that support flourishing ecosystems, share prosperity on all levels, and provide nutritious food that is safe, healthy, accessible, and affordable.
Pako Pethogo
A graduate of Crop Farming Trade from Shoshong Brigades, Botswana, Pako Phetogo joined Lucerne Fields in 2015 to take on the challenging production task. Pako knows the critical steps to ensure that tiny seeds can grow and thrive immediately after settling in the loamy soil.
Year-round production of carrots and beetroot in Southern Africa can be challenging. Pako utilises his skills and agriculture production knowledge gained over the years to care for the growing crops through drought, heatwaves, excessive rain, pests, diseases and whatever nature throws at us.
The Lucerne Fields Motswana team
If it weren't for the exhaustive efforts of the Lucerne Fields team, there would be no farm and no food. The Motswana team of 150 workers, of which 60% is female,
starts working at the crack of dawn to ensure that the vegetables are planted, irrigated, weeded, harvested, sorted, hydro-cooled and packed. They ensure that consumers can get "a handful of health" on their plates every day.