17 Oct 2016

Botswana is grappling with shortage of food.
It is against this realisation that the Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Patrick Ralotsia, implored people given farming land to make use of it so that enough could be produced to feed Batswana and even export some.
Speaking during official opening of the commemoration of World Food Day in Mochudi recently, Mr Ralotsia decried that many people who had farming land did not use it.
However, he asked them to lease land to those who could produce food.
The minister said Batswana must understand that whether there was climate change or not, the body needed food to survive and that was why food must be produced.
He further said there was shortage of milk and its products, adding that the country needed 60 million litres of milk, while only 4.2 million litres was produced locally.
Mr Ralotsia also said there was shortage of mutton small stock meat, fish and other meats in the country, which were imported from outside the country to address shortage.
He said the country produced beef in large quantities and encouraged farmers to guard against diseases that could lower or even hinder beef exportation by caring for their cattle.
Minister Ralotsia said he had since given two permits for two companies to trade in donkey meat, adding that they were only awaiting neighbouring countries to agree on export conditions.
When giving a vote of thanks, Member of Parliament for Mochudi East, Mr Isaac Davids encouraged farmers to care for their fields after ploughing so that they could produce better yields.
He condemned farmers who left their fields unattended after being assisted by government, leading to their crops being destroyed and reaping nothing at the end.
Mr Davids implored farmers to utilise government programmes for their own benefit.
The World Food Day was commemorated under the theme: Climate is Changing, Food and Agriculture are too. ENDS