10 Apr 2016

The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Patrick Ralotsia says Botswana University of Agricultural and Natural Resources (BUAN) will provide solutions to challenges related to the agricultural sector.

Speaking at the university on Thursday, Mr Ralotsia appreciated the progress at the university, stating that it would provide plans on how to improve food production and usage of natural resources.

He said the university would educate the nation about indigenous trees and herbs as well as to enlighten the public on herbs which were sold along to roads if they were safe for consumption and use.

Mr Ralotsia said the university would also be beneficial as it would carry researches concerning food production, livestock production like to research on which side of the country was good for ploughing and which side could be better for livestock especially during drought periods.

He said the ministry would provide assistance to the university, but that it has to come up with its own ways to generate income to meet some of its needs.

Mr Ralotsia visited some facilities such as the animal health clinic, bio-technology laboratory, school library and bio-chemistry lab which is used for analysing animal feeds.

Meanwhile, Mr Ralotsia said on April 21 all departments under his ministry would come together in Kanye to educate the public about services offered by those departments, and he encouraged the public to come and get educated.

For his part, the acting vice chancellor for BUAN, Mr Mataba expressed his gratitude to the minister’s visit, stating that it gave him an opportunity to get an update on the transformation from a college status into a fully-fledged university. 

He said the minister had an opportunity to tour the research and teaching facilities in order to understand better what the university does as well as to appreciate some of the challenges it faces. 

“Our impression is that the  minister is now better informed about what we do and also the potential for the university to assist the agricultural industry in finding solutions to the problems faced by the industry,” he said.

Commenting on the transformation process, Dr Tapela said it was going according to plan, adding that an acting vice chancellor has been appointed to lead the transformation process pending the recruitment of a substantive vice chancellor. 

He noted that the university plans to expand the academic programmes being offered and also improve access through offering distance education, modularised courses and establishing teaching and research centres in different parts of the country. Ends