15 Jun 2020

The Assistant Minister of Agriculture Development and Food Security has implored crop farmers in Chobe West Enclave villages to device others source of livelihood should their fields continue to be submerged by the next ploughing season.

Speaking to farmers in Satau recently, Ms Beauty Manake said it was disheartening that a lot of farmers failed to harvest because of the damage caused by the Chobe River floods.

The Assistant Minister was accompanied by Assistant Minister of Tertiary Education, Research Science and Technology and Member of Parliament for Chobe, Mr Machana Shamukuni, the Assistant Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Mr Karabo Gare,

She advised farmers to device other means of survival such as going into fishery rather than depending solely on crop production.

Ms Manake said water, as a source of life, will always come with other challenges such as floods and diseases.

In his welcoming remarks, Kgosi Rongwe Simasuku of Kasize ward in Satau, told the visiting legislators that 2019/2020 ploughing season was their worst in many years.

He explained that Chobe West enclave villages which include Muchenje, Mabele, Kavimba, Kachikau, Satau and Parakarungu, were prone to natural disasters.

Kgosi Simasuku noted that they initially  experienced  the fall army worm, followed by outbreak of locust, floods, and then COVID-19.

He said all these left farmers empty handed and suggested that whenever there was a locust outbreak, government should opt for Arial spray rather than ground spray because Arial spray has proved to be effective.

The village leader also complained about the gravel road that connects Kachikau-Satau and Parakarungu, saying  though the floods delayed its progress, government should speed up its re-gravelling.

For their part, farmers complained about management of wildlife in their area especially the elephants.

One of the farmers Mr Chika Phuthego said the management of wild animals in Botswana was poor and needed to be revisited otherwise subsistence farming in Botswana will be a thing of the past.

Other farmers suggested for the damming of the Chobe River to enable farmers to utilise the water for other purposes such as watering their livestock.

Giving a vote of thanks, Mr Shamukuni said with the lifting of the hunting ban, expectation was that the management of wild animals, especially the problematic ones such as elephants, would improve.

He said it was unfortunate that hunting season was hampered by the COVID-19 extreme social distancing. ends