13 Apr 2021

The Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) and the National Agricultural Research and Development Institution (NARDI) are still under the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security because they evolved out of its structures and through its initiative.

The Assistant Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Ms Beauty Manake said this when responding to a question from the Nkange MP, Dr Never Tshabang in Parliament on Monday.

Ms Manake stated that BUAN evolved the Botswana Agriculture College, which was a division within the then Ministry of Agriculture, offering certificate training on agriculture related courses.

It became a University of Botswana associated college offering diploma and degree courses in agriculture and eventually became a standalone university, she said.
In addition, Ms Manake said NARDI came into being as a merger of the Department of Agricultural Research (DAR), National Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (NVL) under the

Department of Veterinary Services and National Food Technology Research Centre (NFTRC), a parastatal under the ministry.

“The merging process is not yet complete, and is done in phases. All these institutions do research, on livestock and crops (DAR), animal health (NVL) and food processing (NFTRC).

There is an overlap in these mandates hence the decision to merge the institutions into one, responsible for agriculture related research, she said.

The assistant minister however said, if in the process of rationalising state owned enterprises government recommends that those institutions be moved to the Ministry Tertiary Education, Research Science and Technology ‘we shall oblige as long as the agriculture mandate is not lost.’

The Nkange legislator had asked the minister why BUAN and NARDI were still under his ministry and not the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology. ENDS