13 Apr 2021

The Assistant Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security Ms Beauty Manake has encouraged members of the Moalosa Kgetsi Piggery Production and Abattoir to have determination as they revive their project.

The piggery project, which was formed in 2012 by a group of women in Komana village recently lost most of the pigs due to lack of market and funds to buy feeds for the breed. 

The project is currently left with only 11 adult pigs and five piglets.

 Ms Manake who visited the project on Saturday advised the group members not to be discouraged, saying there were markets which they could tap onto to give life to their project.

The Assistant Minister acknowledged that the industry was faced with challenges such as lack of slaughter houses. 

She urged the project members to approach the National Development Bank, which she said could assist them with funding.

Briefing the Assistant Minister, Moalosa Kgetsi Piggery Production and Piggery representative Ms Thagiso Odireng said the project was experiencing challenges among them lack of markets which was exacerbated by lack of a slaughter house as companies required their products to be of a certain standard.

Ms Odireng said COVID-19 also affected their project more as individuals who used to buy also stopped buying.

Giving an overview of the project, Ms Odireng said the Piggery Production project was formed by a group of women in 2012 who were funded through Department of Gender Affairs.

The piggery project shelter was completed in 2015 but they could not start operating due to lack of funds to purchase pigs.

In 2016, they were assisted by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to go for piggery training at Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) and they used their allowance money to purchase four pigs including a male one which later gave them 59 pigs.

She said even though the UNDP had also donated equipment towards a slaughterhouse, lack of funds made it difficult for it to be built. 

Ms Odireng said they recently managed to change the status of their project to a cooperative so as to be able to get funding to revive it. Ends