26 Mar 2015

Selebi Phikwe town mayor, Mr Amogelang Mojuta, has commended Selebi Phikwe Economic Diversification Unit (SPEDU) for being in the forefront of driving economic activities of the region.

Speaking at a meeting for stakeholders organised by SPEDU on March 24, Mr Mojuta said the region constituted about 80 per cent of horticulture production in the country, noting that so far 103 hectors of land had been zoned for this in preparation of hosting a processing plant, the first of its kind in the country.

He said the project would create employment and expand the income base since the town’s economy depended on the BCL mine. 

Mr Mojuta further said the Selebi Phikwe Development Plan was almost complete and deliberately included urban agriculture as key to diversification, noting that the Selebi Phikwe Town council was a willing partner in the execution of the horticulture project. He urged farmers to embrace this project with zeal and enthusiasm.

For his part the acting chief executive officer (CEO) of SPEDU, Mr Montle Phuthego said the main roles of his organisation were to create employment and identify opportunities as well as motivating farmers to produce more to meet the requirement of both fresh produce and horticulture processing.

“As SPEDU we want to produce quantity and quality vegetables to meet the demand of the country,” Mr Phutlhego said.

In his presentation, the acting CEO of Botswana Horticulture Market (BHM) Mr Simon Meti said their role was to market and provide platform for the price recovery of agricultural produce from local network producers.

‘We provide full basket of fruits and vegetables not available locally from global suppliers to supplement local supply,’ he said, adding that their core business was to have a one stop shop for agricultural produce from local farmers as well as import market. He also said their aim was to coordinate production at national level to equate it to national demand in order to eliminate shortages.

For his part the acting manager of the National Food Technology Research Centre (NFTRC), Dr Martin Kebakile said the Agro Processing Project was funded by the poverty eradication programme at the tune of P6million. SPEDU pledged contribution amounting to P4, 9million for project development.

“The national demand is on tomato, carrots, onions, beetroot, cabbage and processing them will lead to longer shelf life products,” he said.  The plant will process 150kg of tomatoes per hour on eight hour shift, while vegetable pickle line will process 500kg per hour and Dryer will process 200kg per hour.

Deputy District Agriculture Coordinator in the central region Mr Onkeme Gaebope said farmers do not take advantage of ISPAAD. He said 153 farmers in SPEDU region applied for the programme but only 10 applications were successful.

Mr Rantsudu Rantshudu a farmer urged other farmers to utilise and be committed to the assistance offered by different stakeholders. ENDS