28 Mar 2018

Labeling horticultural produce is not only vital for a farmer to gain market share, but also enhances traceability when cases to recall harvest arise.

Speaking during a horticulture stakeholder’s workshop on March 24, Ghanzi District agriculture coordinator, Ms Merriam Munamava said the benefits of labeling horticultural produce goes beyond marketing strategy.

Particularly that there is no quality assurance locally on horticultural produces, Ms Munamava stated that labeling would be critical for traceability.

She cautioned that lack of quality assurance on horticultural goods posed health risks to consumers as the level of chemical residues on the harvest would be unknown.

She warned that excessive consumption of chemical residues or mineral residues from such produce would heighten the risk of anti-microbial resistance.

Ms Munamava said that cancer associated ailments were due to chemical residues from agricultural produce.

She was happy that statistics of horticultural produce in her region was growing, and added that her district was the largest producer of potatoes and that the potatoes were enjoyed countrywide.  

She said horticulture could compete well with the beef industry if given attention.

A representative of Botswana Horticulture Council, Mr Olebogeng Galebowe was also worried that there was no quality assurance, and emphasised the importance of labeling agricultural produce, saying that it was a form of marketing strategy.

Mr Galebowe was against the tendency of some farmers who sold their produce to supermarkets without labeling them, arguing that consumers would only associate that product with the shop they purchased it from. “Even if they loved  your butternuts they would not know where to get them when  they are unavailable in that shop.”

He was of the view that prospects of horticulture, which he said had the potential to be a source of employment and diversify the economy, could only be enjoyed if there was a national cropping policy, national horticulture strategy and positive stakeholder participation.

The lack of a national cropping policy, he said, greatly hampered supply and due to lack of  national horticulture strategy farmers  could produce similar products at the same time, which he  said could affect the price hence farmers would  have to reduce their prices because of high supply.

Too much dependency on government, he said, was one challenge that denied horticulture its potential.

A representative from AON Botswana, Mr Maano Keakabetse enlightened the attendants about their products.

Mr Keakabetse said their products were tailor-made to suit the need of farmers, and that they covered risks such as fire, hailstorm, frost and uncontrollable pests. He advised that a farmer should follow good agricultural practices and have a cropping plan.

He said they were not  limited to horticulture as they also covered other forms of farming, adding that they have products designed for livestock insurance that  covered  risks ranging from  mortality, theft and malnutrition.

In addition, Mr Keakabetse said they covered transportation risks of livestock up to 1 000 km provided that the vehicle was road worthy.

He said they could only cover a minimum of 10 animals.ENDS