28 May 2019

Vice President Slumber Tsogwane has implored Rakops young farmers to use new technologies, management tools and practices to improve farming.

Mr Tsogwane said on Saturday during young farmers’ day in Rakops.

He stated that despite the opportunities provided, farmers continued to face challenges such as climate change, which challenged them to change the way they did things.

Mr Tsogwane stated that farmers should adopt practices and management ways that would help them navigate the challenges brought about by climate change for them to enjoy agricultural benefits.

He called on young farmers to take advantage of programmes such as ISPAAD, young farmers fund and CEDA loans to venture into agriculture, a sector a future but not fully exploited.

Although the country produces beef, Mr Tsogwane said there was potential for farmers to produce hides as primary products, adding that the food sector was important to any nation, as failure to produce food was on its own a security threat.

Mr Tsogwane noted that food insufficiecy was a weakness and a threat to nation’s sovereignty.
Government, he said, had set up programmes and support systems such as livestock management and infrastructure development (LIMID), Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural

Development (ISPAAD), National Master Plan for Agriculture and Dairy Development (NAMPAAD).

Mr Tsogwane said government went further to support farmers by creating a market for their produce in primary schools and urged the youth to take advantage of such.

Rakops young farmers committee chaiperosn, Mr Motshegetsi Soonyana said they realised that there was lack of knowledge on farming, that is the reason why farming in Boteti was underdeveloped.

Therefore they decided to come up with the event to share ideas and knowledge on how they could upgrade their farming standards.

Acting district agricultural coordinator, Mr Moagi Sinombe said it was encouraging to see the youth venturing into farming, saying that could enable procurement of goods locally.

Mr Sinombe also noted that stock feed supply in Botswana was insufficient.

The event was themed, Sustainable Farming to Mitigate Climatic Change. ENDS