31 Aug 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it valuable lessons.

Among these is the critical need for health and safety in the agricultural sector.

This was said by permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Jimmy Opelo when updating the nation on the impact of COVID-19 on the agricultural sector in Gaborone on August 29.

He said the ministry had been able to engage farmers on how they could face the pandemic, adding that the move was motivated by the observations made during the first lockdown, where most farmers were on a panic mode.

He said the manner in which farmers were stock-piling food supplies, mainly the produce from the fields, was different from the first lockdown.

“Farmers understood the dynamics behind this and came up with ways on how to ensure food supply,” he added.

He said the state of food in the shelves was also different from what was experienced during the first lockdown, where people rushed to supermarkets to purchase more than what they needed.

Mr Opelo noted that his ministry, in collaboration with the COVID-19 task force team, assisted most of the farmers who had purchased farm equipment from outside the country.

Pertaining to the issue of farm products pricing, Mr Opelo indicated that Agribusiness in collaboration with farmer’ committees set prices after considering all the costs involved in the production.

He said the ministry was working on a policy under the Economic Recovery Transformation Plan that would assist, should the country experience another pandemic in the future.

He also indicated that government would now start assisting farmers depending on their capability to produce and the passion.

“Every farmer will be assisted, but at different levels,” he added.

Mr Opelo said the ministry had realised that poor infrastructure hindered farmers to effectively and efficiently produce food.. ENDS