26 Oct 2015

Vice President Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi has advised Batswana to use water sparingly.

Speaking during kgotla meetings he addressed in Lotlhakane West and Ralekgetho recently, Mr Masisi also Member of Parliament for the Moshupa/ Manyana constituency told residents that water was generally scarce nationwide as a result of the current drought situation.

Mr Masisi said Batswana should also appreciate the fact that water consumption in the country has increased due to population rises hence called them to revisit the tried and tested ways they used in the past to conserve the scarce commodity. Mr Masisi said children should be taught how to spare water from a young age.

He cited that the Gaborone city received 80 Million m3 of water a day through the North South water carrier project against the demand of 145 Million m3.

VP compared that despite receiving lower annual rains than Botswana with a population of 7 Million, nations like Israel still managed to produce enough food for citizens and have surplus to export to other nations.

He thus challenged farmers to be innovative, climate smart and grow plants which were suitable for the ever so changing atmosphere.

To this end, Mr Masisi encouraged Batswana to take advantage of the available government assistance programmes and plough mokgwapha (aloe) and process it into various by-products like creams and facials. He said the plant did not require a lot of water to survive adding in the past it  was used to treat fire burns.

 However, he explained that the integrated farming initiative would enable them to drill boreholes rather than relying solely on rain water to feed crops.

Meanwhile, Mr Masisi has promised to follow up the replacement of the Ralekgetho field assistant to enable farmers in the area to start ploughing at the earliest convenience this season, should the rains come. He argued that Ralekgetho was a high production area.

Mr Masisi, had earlier at another meeting he addressed in Lotlhakane West, implored the Ministry of Agriculture to equip a certain borehole near the village to provide livestock with water using solar energy through the LIMID programme. He was answering a call from Kgosi Jobson Difemo. Although VP said the initial costs for a solar powered borehole would be high, he argued that the running expenses would be low.

VP has furthermore explained that the underway North-South water carrier project would put paid to water concerns in the Southern part of the country. He said the project would be complete by 2017.

In view of the current drought situation, Mr Masisi furthermore advised farmers to sell some of the livestock to generate income to maintain the rest lest they lost them all.

The district agricultural coordinator Mrs Monia Mfolwe has meanwhile, confirmed that her ministry could assist Lotlhakane farmers to equip the borehole in question through the LIMID programme. Ends