24 Mar 2014

The Vice President, Dr Ponatshego Kedikilwe says agriculture plays an important role in the country’s economy.

Dr Kedikilwe, who was on a familarisation tour of Talana Farm in the Bobirwa constituency on Saturday March 22, said the sector was a sustainable venture that ensured food security and employment creation. He said despite the challenges of global warming and droughts, agriculture still remained a sustainable sector.

Dr Kedikilwe noted that farming was not about the size of the field, but the technical and tactical expertise applied to produce food that matter, adding that SPEDU had been tasked to explore agricultural activities in the area as it had a potential to feed the nation.

He told Talana Farm management and Botswana Development Corporation, which is a partner in the business, that he had been touring agriculture holdings in Kgalagadi, Mosi/Sedibeng because government wanted the sector to grow.

He said he was impressed that at Mosi/Sedibeng, some farmers produced not less than 10 tonnes of produce under rainfed production. Talana Farm operated an irrigated horticultural and ostrich farm. The Vice President said agriculture would boast the economy and employ lots of people as well as feeding them.

The government, he said, had a commitment to ensure that the sector grew and that the country had an agreement with neighbouring nations to draw water from the Zambezi River that would be used for irrigation in Pandamatenga Farms.

Dr Kedikilwe said his visit to Talana Farm and other agriculture holdings was meant to show that they were not on their own and to give them moral support to carry on despite the challenges. Furthermore, Dr Kedikilwe expressed delight that a number of youth were showing interest in agriculture and utilising ISPAAD and CEDA to venture into businesses.

He added that  women were not left behind in the sector. “That impresses me as the chairperson of the Rural Development Council (RDC) that people stand up to produce food for the nation".

He said Talana Farm was not supposed to run a transport fleet to distribute produce to the market, but should engage other companies to run the fleet. He said  the farm should be concerned about production which would further develop other sectors of the economy.

The managing director of Talana Farm, Mr Jan Willemse said the horticultural and ostrich farm currently have 226 employers and that during peak seasons they required between 600-700 workers which was a challenge.

Mr Willemse said the farm was the first to grow crops including lettuce, potatoes, carrots and cauliflower at a commercial level and were able to supply the whole nation and play a critical role in increasing food security.

This reduces Botswana’s dependency on other countries for food, he said. Mr Willemse said the ostrich farm exports raw ostrich meat to Europe and the abbatoir at Sebele has been accorded a European Union status and was working around the clock to meet the EU market demand.

However, he said the export of meat met some challenges due to absence of direct flights to the market as they have to go through South Africa which was expensive.

The managing director was concerned that the sector was faced with shortage of labour as some locals shun working in farms forcing them to recruit foreigners.

He also appealed to BDC to expedite the housing project at the farm because workers live under poor conditions. The Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Mr Shaw Kgathi described Dr Kedikilwe’s tour as important to the farm because it would address some barriers and challenges facing the agriculture sector.

Mr Kgathi said for the ostrich farm to acquire a EU status was a milestone for the farm, and that it should be used as incubation for young people who want to venture into agriculture. Meantime, the BDC managing director, Mr Bashi Gaetsaloe said the area has fertile soils, good water with boreholes less than 30 meters deep and allows crops to grow faster.

He said the venture would ensure that it changes the face of food security in the country. Ends