18 May 2016

SADC agriculture ministers and other stakeholders have proposed that decisions taken during seminars should bind governments. 

Deliberating at a one-day seminar in Gaborone on Monday, they proposed that SADC chairperson, President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama should champion a binding monitoring and evaluation system that would ensure implementation of regional policies, strategies and protocols. 

They suggested that the binding monitoring and evaluation system should empower the SADC secretariat to monitor implementation at national level and reports submitted at every summit.

The seminar was called to come up with ways to engage collectively to address the prevailing food insecurity and high levels of poverty in the region.

Issues discussed focused on making food security a top priority within the region by coming up with ways to improve agriculture.

The meeting adopted commercialisation of smallholder farming by aggregating farmers to expand the economies of scale and marketing purposes.

They also proposed that linking production to markets was crucial as well as improved access to agricultural inputs, including seeds, fertilisers and other agrochemicals. They said land should be availed to women and youth to facilitate production.  

The meeting also suggested that capacity of extension officers should be improved. 

Availability of Information Communication Technology (ITC), water and energy are some of the areas identified to boost the agricultural sector.

Stakeholders also emphasised that the private sector should boost the sector and play a meaningful role in the eradication of poverty and its challenges.

The meeting heard that about 40 per cent of the region’s citizens were currently living in abject poverty and the region was experiencing the worst drought conditions in over two decades. 

It was revealed that cereal production had decreased by approximately 21 per cent in 2015 compared to 2014, leading to stunted growth rates of above 20 per cent in a region home to 292 million people, of whom 61 per cent live in rural areas and derive their livelihood from agriculture. ENDS