04 Aug 2019

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi says the improved components of Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development (ISPAAD) are meant not only to improve productivity but to harness peace and harmony between government and its people.  

When speaking at a kgotla meeting in Bobonong, recently, President Dr Masisi said the implementation of commodity clusters under ISPAAD would protect field owners who would otherwise have their fields repossessed owing to lack of resources for development. 

The president said clustering fields would leave owners still enjoying their land rights and maintaining the same plot size they had before implementation.  

He said that with commodity clusters, ploughing would be expedited and there would be a good chance of increasing the output. 

Dr Masisi told the gathering that in the new dispensation government would de-bush the fields and plough all at once. 

The president said government had purchased four huge tractors to undertake farming. 

However, the president warned that the initiative would be a high expenditure for government, hence would recover the costs with some percentage of the revenue from produce. 

Whilst noting the benefits of the programme, the president observed that there were some Batswana who could  not afford to till their lands and hence the move that would yield peace between government and its people. 

He said the improvements in ISPAAD stood to boost economies of many homes. 

The president, much to applause from attendants, revealed that going forward government would improve accessibility of production areas by way of roads and lure farmers back to the fields by provision of water and internet. Ends