13 Nov 2017

Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Patrick Ralotsia has dismissed perceptions that the government intends alleviating livestock in the Ngamiland District.

Mr Ralotsia said government treated equally wildlife and livestock, as both sectors have the right to exist and were all critical to the economy.

He told a two-day workshop held under the theme “Wildlife-friendly beef: working towards a win-win solution for Livestock agriculture and wildlife conservation in Ngamiland” that the agriculture sector was critical to the sustenance of the livelihoods of Batswana and was key to improving food security at household and national level.

He said agriculture provides the nation with food, employment, income, raw materials and investment opportunities, adding that subsequent to that, his ministry had continued to put great emphasis on enhancing the country’s prosperity, capitalising on the natural resources at their disposal as a nation and regionally.

The workshop, he said, came at a very opportune time and shared some issues which is of great relevance such as recognising that management of diseases remained an important aspect in the livestock sub sector.

Mr Ralotsia noted that government was committed to eradicate Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and pleaded with the traditional leaders to be instrumental in conveying the message to the communities contrary to their beliefs irrespective of what the government was spending.

He said it was well known that historical approach to managing FMD had been defined on a geographic basis, through creation of disease-free zones with the objective of progressive eradication of the disease.

He said Botswana was no doubt a shining example of the success of the approach.

However, he stated that the frequency of FMD outbreaks across Southern Africa had been increased in the last 10 years implying some inherent deficiencies in the approach.

“Some of the deficiencies were consequences of things that we were not doing and the focus of most countries in the region has been to access the lucrative European markets.

Therefore, other approaches to production and marketing have to be explored,” he added.

Mr Ralotsia said he held talks with the Arabs and were equally interested in buying beef from Ngamiland in an acceptable world class standard.

He regretted that the outbreaks made the country to be unreliable in beef supply stressing that as supplier, one needed to be reliable and supplying agreed quality on the right time.

Furthermore, the minister cited that markets in Asia, within SADC itself and across the African continent should not be overlooked especially as the African middle class consumption on the livestock products was increasing.

Mr Ralotsia hoped that the forum would help the country on how it could increase the effectiveness of FMD control, promote more effective access to markets with minimal environmental consequences.

Given the importance of both animal agriculture and wildlife conservation to Botswana and other countries in the region, he said, it was quite reasonable to re-evaluate how best to manage risks from diseases like FMD in a manner that helps Africa’s pastoralists and farmers without threatening free-ranging wildlife which was also key to the economy.

He committed his staff to working with the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism and all key stakeholders to chart a path towards implementing approaches to animal disease management and beef production that mitigate conflicts at the livestock/wildlife interface and benefit all Batswana. BOPA