26 Mar 2017

Kgosi Tshwaro Masisi of Mabesekwa has said shortage of land in his village is one major contributing factor that hampers the youth not to utilise government economic programmes to venture into agricultural businesses.
Speaking in an interview with BOPA recently, he explained that Mabesekwa youth were willing to consider agriculture as a means of survival since it had potential in transforming their lives, but shortage of land seems to be an obstacle ahead of their business endeavors.
This, he explained, has therefore forced some youth to opt for some other businesses that they did not have much interest in nor the love and passion for.
As a result, Kgosi Masisi emphasised that some of these businesses are collapsing due to the fact that the operators have no interest in, further explaining that the situation of land shortage is somehow influenced by the delays of land board procedures that takes long for one to be allocate land or a plot.
He said as village leadership, they have identified a piece of land in the village, specifically to be used by youth who want to venture into agriculture as a business but lamented the long process by the relevant land board authorities to allocate land.
This, he said, needs to be looked into urgently, in particular when it comes to business funding for the youth and emphasised that these youngsters are impatient and want things done on time and with ease.
He said as such when things seemed to be delaying or going at a snail’s pace, they end up getting discouraged to progress with their intended ambitions.
“Agriculture is one sector that has many benefits in our lives and our efforts to diversify economy can succeed if taken seriously,” he said.
He noted that agriculture could go a long way in helping eradicate abject poverty in families and hence help the country to attain its food security and shared that it is through agriculture that Batswana can help in the objectives of job creation. ENDS