20 Aug 2020

Agricultural development remains a core strategy for economic diversification, legislators have said.

 In the debates of the Mid-Term Review of National Development Plan 11(NDP 11) which coincides with Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan (ETRP), the MPs said agriculture was at the forefront of economic diversification.

In this regard, they stated that government should embark on creating an enabling environment for agricultural businesses to thrive and make the sector the mainstay of the economy, saying investing in infrastructure for agriculture should be a priority in order for the country to be self-sufficient in food security.

In her contribution, Assistant minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security ,Ms Beauty Manake said agriculture could not be ignored in trying to diversify the economy, create jobs and better people’s lives.

She said there was need to explore ample opportunities in the sector adding that import bill for food currently stood at P7.6 billion, which translated to a huge number of jobs exported.

MP for Thamaga- Kumakwane, Mr Palelo Motaosane said there was potential for massive food production in his constituency at Mmamoagi, Kotolaname and Phuduhudu farms where most farmers were medium to large scale and only lacked facilitation to do more to explore their potential in food production.

He called on government to invest in infrastructure where there was a lot of food production.

Mahalapye West MP, Mr David Tshere complained that government was in the habit of spending in many initiatives which ran simultaneously without taking a step at a time to see as to which one accrued more returns on investment.

He cited the science and technology park, innovation hub and agriculture as some of the initiatives that government had spent huge sums of money on, without making any follow-up to see which one performed better.

MP for Chobe, Mr Machana Shamukuni said ETRP aspect was a welcome development to resuscitate  the economy post COVID-19.

He applauded the Finance and Economic Development Minister, Dr Thapelo Matsheka for justifying the budget deficit prior to the last lap on NDP 11.

Furthermore, he said it was a good idea that government had decided to borrow money, than to use money from reserves.

He also called on government to invest in research projects, deal with implementation issues, poor workmanship and to improve connectivity between country’s economic centres.

He also called for sufficient health amenities in tourism centres around the country.

Nkange legislator, Dr Never Tshabang called on government to resuscitate malfunctional health facilities by addressing problems of equipment shortage.

He also called on government to invest in education, address classroom shortage backlog, boarding facilities and to improve access to land.

Dr Tshabang also said more funds should be channeled towards research, adding that government should establish a research fund that would inform policies for export-led economy, improvement of rural livelihoods and drive development.

Molepolole North MP, Mr Oabile Regoeng said government should consider continuity of constituency funding because it cushioned pressure from central government budget as some constituency projects were pursued through such funding. Ends