18 Apr 2018

The Assistant Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Itumeleng Moipisi has reiterated the potential agriculture has in advancing the country’s economic growth provided there is increased adoption of new technologies by farmers across all sectors.

Officiating during the first launch of Kgalagadi North Farmers Field Day on April 14, Mr Moipisi said government was destined to turn agriculture into a fully-fledged commercialised and diversified sector.

He noted that over the past years, it was through agriculture that the country had a remarkable economic transformation as it contributed to 40 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which he said has drastically dropped over the years to two per cent subsequently surpassed by the mining sector.

However, the Kgalagadi North legislator said despite the country being endowed with natural resources which would continue to sustain the country’s economy, there was need to stimulate economic diversification in order to provide a cushion should the minerals run out.

He therefore encouraged farmers to take lead in the economic diversification drive through the promotion and implementation of various agricultural technologies such as climate smart agriculture.

He encouraged youth to venture into a variety of enterprises by adopting new technologies focused on key areas such as fodder production, artificial insemination.

These he said would help develop different cattle breeds to improve the agricultural sector output which he said could help to facilitate the reduction of food import bill and also boost employment opportunities.

He said through new technologies, farmers could go a long way in improving the agricultural production especially cattle production since it was considered the mainstay of the country’s economy especially in Kgalagadi region with an estimated cattle population of 67 000.

In support of economic diversification, Mr Moipisi said the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security has come up with several initiatives geared towards the improvement of agricultural output to increase production and diversify the local agricultural products across markets as it was mandated to improve food security and champion agricultural developments.

He said government had put in place programmes aimed at promoting agricultural output such as Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD) and the Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID) which he said had produced tangible results over the years.

He noted that LIMID programme had been expanded to cover packages such as small stock, tswana chickens, guinea fowl, water reticulation and developing of animal handling facilities.

He said since inception, the total number of beneficiaries had increased reaching 34 653 by July 2017, and that in terms of gender, 64 per cent of beneficiaries were women in Kgalagadi North area.

In addition, he said youth farmers in Kgalagadi North who had been assisted through the programmes were as follows, LIMID- 664, Special ISPAAD -2, ISPAAD -2, Youth Development Fund -198 and Poverty eradication -242. Earlier in her welcome remarks, Kgosi Basadi Seipone lauded youth farmers for organising farmers’ field day as it proved their commitment to take their area to greater heights.

She said field day activities served as platforms where prominent and aspiring farmers could share experiences in the field of farming.

Giving the overview of agriculture production in Kgalagadi, acting district agriculturtal  coordinator, Mr Bornwell Mabechu said Kgalagadi had been designated as a livestock zone for small stock and cattle production.

Mr Mabechu further said the area also had a challenge of salty water and that animal diseases such as heart water, Foot And Mouth were not rampant in the area.

In addition, he encouraged farmers to desist from overstocking as the pressure of high animal production on limited grazing areas would lead to progressive deterioration of native grasslands.

In his remarks, chairperson of the organising committee, Mr Oaitse Monei said the aim of the event was to serve as an eye opener to aspiring farmers as they would be able to share ideas and skills to improve their farming skills in order to increase production.

For his part, the host farmer, Mr Kabelo Bareeleng said the event would allow them to acquire more information about small stock and cattle diseases, handling of machinery, record keeping and how to prevent stock theft.  The event was sponsored by Haskins and also in attendance were exhibitors from, Agri shop, CEDA, BAMB, HRDC and others. The event was held under the theme: Adoption of improved agricultural technologies, a way to increase production. ENDS