11 Jun 2018

 In spite of many challenges facing agriculture, the sector is laden with opportunities that remain unexploited, Barclays Bank Botswana business banking director, Mr Andre Potgieter says.

Giving a keynote address at a agricultural pitso in Ghanzi recently, Mr Potgieter said a number of sub sectors had the potential to turn around agriculture in the country.

He cited the livestock sector, saying both cattle and small stock thrived in Botswana’s climatic conditions.

Mr Potgieter said the introduction of home breeds such as Musi by the Department of Agricultural Research was commendable and could go a long way in developing the beef industry.

He said the horticulture sector was another area where there was immense potential for the country to be self-sufficient. He stated that irrigation, coupled with water saving techniques, presented opportunities for increased food security.

“There is scope also for increasing the total area under irrigation from the current 3 000 hectares. There is also need to implement the agro ecological production zoning if production and productivity of sorghum, maize, millet, pulses and bee-keeping are to be optimised,” he said.

Furthermore, he noted that the agricultural landscape had evolved from livestock production to irrigated agriculture. Last year, he added, Ghanzi District produced about 850 tonnes of potatoes and that production was expected to increase to more than 5 000 tonnes.

The district also produces tomatoes and onions and the land put under irrigation has increased from just below five hectares in 2013 to about 200 hectares in 2016, he said.

Mr Potgieter said Botswana’s food import bill had been rising over years. He said products such as dairy products were met through imports.

Mr Potgieter said the country’s nominal food bill rose from P4.9 billion in 2010 to P7.4 billion in 2017.

“The high dependence on imports does not only make the country’ food security fragile, but makes Botswana susceptible to exogenous shocks that have negative impact on food production,” he said.

“In light of these unwelcome developments in the local agricultural sector, I want to challenge all of us in the private sector to join hands in transforming agriculture ,into a viable, competitive and successful agri-business which would not only provide for the inhabitants of the country, but would also provide jobs and wealth for young and old,” said, Mr Potgieter.

The sector, he explained should be transformed and modernised to make it appealing to the young people whose high rate of unemployment had been found to be contributing to crime rates and other social ills.

He emphasised the need to adopt modern farming practices accompanied by new crop varieties and animal breeds.

Mr Potgieter cited challenges facing agriculture as heavy reliance on rainfall, climate change, poor infrastructure, lack of access to finance by farmers and undeveloped agricultural value chains in the country. 

For his part, director of Department of Veterinary Services, Dr Letlhogile Modisa said consultative forums such as the pitso gave stakeholders opportunities to streamline issues facing the agricultural sector.

Dr Modisa said they use such forums to establish the root cause of their challenges and also challenged local farmers to have more input in agricultural production.

ENDS