10 Feb 2020

The Japanese ambassador to Botswana says technical cooperation between his country and Botswana will generate win-win relationships for all related parties at all levels in the agricultural sector.

Speaking at a reception for a team of Japanese experts from Global Innovation Team recently, Mr Kozo Takeda said countries were forging ahead with the aim of improving agriculture from that of the olden days to more advanced and technological methods.

Mr Takeda indicated that today’s agriculture routinely used sophisticated technologies such as robots, temperature and moisture sensors, aerial images as well as GPS.

He said such advanced devices and precision agriculture as well as robotic systems allowed businesses to be more profitable, efficient, safer and more environmentally friendly.

As such, he said in a bid to be at par with some developed countries, Japan was currently piloting a new technology termed $100 Smart Agric, of which results were presented at a seminar between the Global Innovation Team and Local Enterprises Authority (LEA) in Gaborone recently.

The project, he said, aimed to design a model case in the agricultural sector that would contribute to the improvement of food security and job creation in arid regions with persistent shortage of water such as in Botswana.

He indicated that the experimental study also aimed to establish a steady farming and management system at a low cost and in a simplified way.

 

Meanwhile, Mr Takeda said he was hopeful that Japan’s cooperation using such technologies would take root in Botswana, be properly applied and extended to possibly arable lands and eventually contribute to the development of the country’s economy. ENDS