01 Jun 2015

Beef and cattle are an integral part of Botswana’s culture and a way of life, Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Sadique Kebonang, has said.

“Botswana is what it is today because of significant contribution made by our cattle,” Ms Kebonang said during the third annual Lobatse International Beef Festival on May 30.

He said cattle played a meaningful role in the country’s economy well before the diamonds were discovered; therefore he was pleased to see the community of Lobatse celebrating what for a long time had been the country’s economic mainstay.

Mr Kebonang, also Lobatse MP, said the beef festival should be seen as a way of branding Botswana locally, regionally and globally; hence it being tagged ‘international’.

The beef festival, he said, promoted not only Botswana beef and its contribution to the lives of Batswana, but also Lobatse as a vibrant town that has all the necessary amenities required for business.

Apart from instilling a sense of pride in the Lobatse community, he said the festival also promoted, developed and grew small and medium enterprises generally, especially allied to the beef industry.

One of the spinoffs of events such as a beef festival was the revitilisation of the domestic tourism industry and in increase in domestic spending, said Mr Kebonang, adding that the event also provided an opportunity for businesses, especially those in Lobatse to grow and develop their products and services to levels that attracted international visitors; thus contributing to Foreign Direct Investment.

He urged all to nurture and support the event to ensure its growth and development which makes a difference in the lives of ordinary citizens.

Mr Kebonang assured the organisers of the event that he would be of support to the event as he has keen interest in the purpose that it exists for, which is the promotion of Botswana beef.

He applauded Mr Barolong Seboni who is the main organiser of the event for his determination, consistency and drive for conceptualising the idea as back as 1998 and the idea only beginning to bear fruit in 2013.

He also applauded him for choosing Lobatse as a venue and the primary location for the beef festival adding that it was only natural for him to do so as the town is the beef capital of Botswana.

Botswana Meat Commission (BMC)’s Chief Excecutive Officer Mr Akolang Tomabale said the BMC was determined to sponsor the beef festival as his organisation was one of the best producers of the world.

The sponsorship, he said was to have both locals and tourists to get a taste of the best part of meat that the organisation produces.

Mr Tombale urged all Batswana to take pride in one of the best export products that has ever come out of Botswana and called on all to identify themselves with BMC to market the Botswana beef.

He however expressed concern at the prevalence of measles in the country which costs the BMC an opportunity of making P67 million annually.

The situation he said was scary given the downgrades that the organisation has to contend with on a daily basis and it does to the export market.

He noted that Botswana has the highest measles prevalence rate that ranges between 13 and15 per cent as compared to neighbouring counties of South Africa, Namibia and Zambia whose prevalence rates are only at three percent.

He therefore appealed to farmers to find ways of managing measles in cattle especially by managing human waste which is the major cause for measles in cattle.

Brand Botswana Chief Operations Officer Mr Meshack Tshekedi said his organisation partnered with the beef festival organisers as the event has the potential to market Botswana internationally.

He said the beef festival came as a way of assisting local companies expand and diversify the economy.Beef, he said was one of the country’s strength that citizens could leverage on as a strong brand.

He indicated that Lobatse had been identified as one of those befitting to be economic zones considering massive manufacturing operations that were currently operating and the envisaged ones such as the leather park, the beef industry and the milk and dairy one.

He said Brand Botswana was already working with local authorities to develop and implement the local economic strategies. ENDS