03 Jun 2021

The Assistant Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Ms Beauty Manake, says though Mosisedi farms have been in existence for some time, it is evident that more still need to be done in order to get desired results.

She said this on Tuesday June 1 when touring the farms.

The assistant minister told the farmers that though they shared the same vision with that of government of feeding the nation, they were somehow pulling in different directions, hence her visit.

In an interview, Ms Manake said Mosisedi Farmers Association had potential and all it needed was to get a little push in the right direction.

She said this could be done through capacitating members by investing in proper machinery that would help them execute their daily duties diligently and on time.

Ms Manake said proper machinery was a must have because farmers relied on rain-fed ploughing and as such it was paramount that they were always on time especially during the ploughing season.

Ms Manake also underscored the need to make the agricultural sector a viable value chain.

She said the sector on its own had potential to diversify the economy because it was through it that foreign investors could come and establish food processing and packaging industries in Botswana.

Some farmers concurred that they had the same vision with government, but it was clear that they were not pulling in the same direction.

They told the minister that it was important that they worked as a unit and map the way forward, adding that it was the only way that they could get to achieve the desired results.

They lamented that every ploughing season agro-chem dealers hiked the prices of pesticides and fertilisers, making it difficult for them to get the right products on time due to cash constraints.

They also urged other important stakeholders such as financial institutions, CEDA, to come on board so that they could come up with good working relations.

The assistant minister said they had realised that the problem caused by some dealers who hiked prices and it was for that reason that she came to meet farmers to map the way forward.

Ms Manake said it was not good to protect dealers while leaving farmers out even though they were the ones who took risks. ENDS