27 Oct 2015

Member of Parliament for Shashe West, Mr Fidelis Molao has informed the residents of Mafungo/Hubona that Phase 2 village electrification project is about to start .

Speaking at a kgotla meeting recently, Mr Molao said horticulture farms along the Shashe River will be among the places connected through the project as government aims at encouraging and supporting horticultural farmers to produce enough, which can cover the whole country and even be exported. 

He said government focus is to fight to reduce the cost of importing food from other countries, whereas land and other necessities have been provided to Batswana farmers to do their best in farming. 

Mr Molao who is also Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development further informed them that there are three horticultural markets in the country located at Francistown, Gaborone and Lobatse.

He said these have not been in use and government is pushing for them to be operational and serve their purpose of being horticultural wholesalers so that when they urge retail supermarkets to buy local produce, they will be sure of where to get the produce.  

Mr Molao also added that reviving the presence of horticulture markets is also a way of creating a market for farmers, who often complain that the market is not available for them to sell their produce, as people including supermarkets get products from across the border mainly in South Africa. 

Furthermore, he noted that the Ministry of Agriculture rejects at the borders the importation of some agricultural produce, particularly during the times they are readily available locally.

In addition, he highlighted that in the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP), access roads to the fields will be created and electricity as well will be distributed and Batswana in general should take advantage of government’s initiatives and do their best in farming.

“It is time to showcase the best of our farming abilities as Batswana,” he said. 

He further pointed out that about five government sectors, among them Botswana Defence Force, Botswana Prisons Service, hospitals, schools and Botswana Police spend annually about P800 million on food, most of which is bought outside the country. 

Mr Molao said such products bought outside can as well be produced locally and it is therefore important for farmers to go to the fields and make use of such a market.

Appreciating government’s efforts, residents however suggested that it should explain in details what the implications of taking such a decision are. 

Mr Goitsemodimo Mafasola said as youth, they are faced with unemployment situations and it will be better if government can create employment opportunities for the youth. Ends