07 Apr 2019

Climate change is a phenomenon that has existed since the industrial revolution, only that its effects are currently worsening.

This was stated by the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security deputy permanent secretary, Mr Thabang Botshoma during the first ever Botswana Farmers Association Climate Change workshop in Gaborone recently.

Mr Botshoma said for as long as Batswana continued to behave the way they do with regards to greenhouse gas emissions, climate change would continue unabated.

He said climate change was doing more harm within the agricultural sector, hence action needed to be taken for the future.

The effects of climate change, he said, were hitting home because production had decreased.

Mr Botshoma stated that weather patterns were changing, sea levels were rising, and weather events were becoming more extreme with extremely high temperatures.

He said drought was taking over and that rainfall was scarce, adding that greenhouse gas emissions were now at their highest levels.

In Botswana, he said import cars were mostly to blame for the effects of greenhouse gases because of their high numbers.

He said trains could be used as an alternative in order to reduce emission coming especially from import vehicles.

Furthermore, Mr Botshoma pointed out that there were affordable, scalable solutions available to enable Botswana to leapfrog to a cleaner, more resilient economy.

He said people should be turning to renewable energy and a range of other measures that would reduce emissions and increase adaptation efforts.

For her part, Botswana Farmers Association president, Ms Diane Sibanda said it was important for farmers to recognise the need to align themselves with climate change.

Ms Sibanda said the association was to lobby and advocate for vulnerable and small hold farmers, whom at most times were economically disfranchised.

She said farmers association  empowers, and promotes participation of women farmers in economic and social spheres. ENDS