Toby & Abby’s Café brings Botswana’s Indigenous Foods to the front

Laone Choeunyane | Wednesday February 11, 2026 11:31

 

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Located opposite the Security Services Headquarters in Bontleng, near the CID traffic lights, the café is owned by agripreneur Lere Tapologo. It offers full meals, snacks, and beverages made entirely from locally sourced fruits and crops. These include moretlwa, moretologa, mmilo, mowana (baobab), morula, and indigenous melons such as lerotse.

Tapologo, who also runs Tripple A Farm, said the café was established to celebrate Setswana cuisine while addressing persistent market-access challenges faced by small producers and agro-processors.

“I had to look into how else I could reach my market, because people kept asking where they could get my products,” she said. “That’s when I thought of inviting other Batswana entrepreneurs, especially those innovating using indigenous knowledge,” she added.

The café stocks products from a growing network of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs), creating a one-stop outlet for indigenous foods such as bogobe jwa lerotse, phane, lebelebele, and a variety of processed snacks and drinks. Tapologo’s own range includes jams, juices, meals, and energy bars made from lerotse, with ingredients sourced from Tripple A Farm and partner producers.

Officials from the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NARDI) and the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) attended the opening, highlighting institutional support for agro-processing and citizen economic empowerment.

Dr Minah Mosele, a scientist and researcher at NARDI, said agro-processing plays a critical role in transforming agriculture and reducing losses.

“Agro-processing is one of the major pillars of agriculture,” she said. “It transforms our agricultural produce and veld products into processed intermediary and finished products.”

Mosele said post-harvest losses remain a significant challenge in Botswana, adding that enterprises rooted in indigenous knowledge offer practical solutions.

“In this era of a knowledge-based economy, indigenous knowledge remains important,” she said. “Globally, people are going back to their roots.”

Tapologo said product testing conducted by NARDI had validated the nutritional quality of her offerings.

“When we tested our products at NARDI, we discovered that our lerotse energy bars are low in salt and sugar compared to World Health Organization dietary recommendations,” she said.

LEA Acting Branch Manager for Gaborone, Tshepo Seetsela, said the café exemplifies citizen economic empowerment in action.

“This café strengthens local value chains, promotes agro-processing, supports job creation, and demonstrates how agro-processing can move from concept to commercial reality,” she said. “It is more than a retail outlet: it is a strategic platform that gives SMMEs permanent market access.”

Seetsela noted that Tripple A Farm placed second in the Food Processing category at national trade shows in both 2024 and 2025.

Collaborating entrepreneurs welcomed the initiative. Phatsimo Matshediso of Phatsima Organic said the café reflects shared values among local producers.

“Under one roof, we can showcase organic products that are locally manufactured by us Batswana,” she said, noting that her moringa and moretologa products are stocked at the café.

Tapologo said cultural authenticity remains central to the business model.

“Our aim is not to sell anything that is not indigenously made,” she said. “We want Batswana and the world to know that our food is important.”

While access to professional processing machinery remains a challenge, Tapologo said resourcefulness and collaboration continue to drive her vision, with plans to expand the café concept to other parts of Botswana.