28 Aug 2013

Stanbic Bank has sponsored construction of livestock kraals at the new national agricultural show ground to a tune of P600 000.
The groundbreaking ceremony of the construction of the livestock kraals was performed by the Stanbic Bank’s business banking head, Mr Tapela Mpuchane at the on-going national agricultural show on Tuesday.

Mr Mpuchane said it was important for the private sector organisations to come on board and help develop and facilitate the growth of historically important events such as national agricultural show. He was pleased that more and more organisations were coming on board to participate in the growth of the agriculture sector.


“The increase will obviously make a difference in the prizes as well. For instance, Debswana has this year also sponsored the construction of a judging ring and is expected to start immediately after this year’s show,” he added.
 He also appealed to other organisations to contribute generously to development of agriculture in Botswana, since there was an urgent need to diversify the country’s economy.

Despite its incredible potential, Mr Mpuchane said agriculture was one area that many continued to solely neglect.
 Furthermore, he encouraged Batswana to view agricultural shows as marketing platforms rather than places where they took their exhibits to win prizes. He said some of the exhibits that were showcased at the show won at district shows national championship.


He therefore, challenged and encouraged farmers to work on the quality of their exhibits in order for them to meet the set standard, adding that it was only through a healthy sense of competition that they could challenge each other and themselves.
“It is indeed an exciting and proud moment, and looking at the turn up of livestock exhibits this year, I believe that we have invested the money where it was mostly needed,” Mr Mpuchane said.


The show themed: Transforming Agriculture in the Wake of Climate Change, is the second one running at the new show grounds from August 26 to September 1. 
Ministry of Agriculture and the farming community started staging the national agricultural show in the mid-1970s to create a platform where farmers from the whole country could benchmark.

The show was also meant to create an environment where farmers, extension officers and other stakeholders from around the world could interact and share ideas or experiences. 
In addition, the national event was also meant to create a culture of competitiveness- thereby encouraging farmers to produce better and adapted livestock and crops, to showcase the abundant agricultural resources and the country’s potential to consolidate past achievements and promote the good policies available to attract local and foreign investments. ENDS