19 May 2016

The director of International Trade in the Ministry of Investment Trade and Industry (MITI), Ms Shirley Moncho, says efforts are being made to look for alternative market for Ngamiland beef and other zones not able to export to the European Union.

Ms Moncho was responding to Ngamiland farmers who expressed worry that Foot and Mouth Disease had rendered cattle rearing in their region useless as their beef could not enter the lucrative EU market. They expressed this concern during EU-SADC EPA workshop in Maun on Tuesday.

Farmers had said Botswana Meat Commission bought their cattle with Maun price, which was lower than prices of cattle anywhere in Botswana.

This, they said would further plunge the Ngamiland community into poverty. 

However, Ms Moncho said in 2004, the then trade minister, Ms Dorcas Makgato, headed a delegation to Ghana and Nigeria to look for market opportunities for Ngamiland beef.

“Just recently I was in Ghana to resuscitate these negotiations,” Ms Moncho assured the farmers. Some farmers blamed the trade minikstry for what they called failure to integrate the country’s economy into the world economy.

They said Botswana lost a fortune through diamond beneficiation, which was done in other countries. 

Others said Ngamiland was exporting unprocessed fish to neighbouring countries thus exporting jobs and eradicating poverty in those countries.

In her response Ms Moncho said the government recognised the importance of diamond beneficiation that is why DTC was moved from London to Gaborone. She also expressed the importance of exporting finished goods.

 As for the exportation of processed fish, Ms Moncho called on business people to carry out the task instead of leaving it to her ministry. 

The role of the government was to create a conducive environment for businesses to thrive and the country is doing well in that regard, she said.

Farmers also stressed that agricultural production in Ngamiland was negated by the conflict between wildlife and livestock. 

They called on the government to erect a fence that separates wildlife from livestock. This they said will help reduce animal diseases such as foot and mouth.

A local farmer and former Maun East MP, Mr Frank Ramsden also concurred that their farming businesses have lost value as a result of the ever reoccurring livestock diseases in Ngamiland. 

He wondered why Botswana was producing and exporting the foot and mouth disease vaccine to other countries like Brazil while failing to control the disease locally. 

He said countries that import the Botswana made FMD vaccine export to the EU. ENDS