27 Jul 2021

Working with a global agriculture powerhouse like France to drive the agricultural sector transformation would ensure achievement of the country’s food security ambitions.

 This was said by Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security Mr Karabo Gare during the  joint signing of a letter of intent on agriculture with France ambassador Ms Laurance Beau in Gaborone July 27.

 “Partnering with France will open doors for more specific and concrete partnership agreements that will help to better leverage on the French agricultural expertise to drive productivity and compete within Africa and the world,” he said.

Minister Gare explained that the aim of establishing research, innovation and collaborative partnerships with world-leading French companies was to develop exportable solutions to address challenges facing the agricultural sector.

Describing the letter of intent as a sign of commitment and goodwill towards Botswana, Mr Gare revealed that the French were keen on operationalising it to ensure that tangible benefits and gains were realised in the immediate term.

Turning to the latest developments in the agricultural sector, he mentioned that government had recently approved Lobu Farm digital transformation strategy.

The aim, he explained,  was to prioritise small stock sector development leveraging on technology to drive efficiencies and enable the sector’s competitiveness locally and abroad. “As a centre of excellence on small stock farming, Lobu will be a model farm that will position Botswana as a leader in smart small stock production and management systems and to create farming solutions for replication countywide,” he said.

Speaking later, Ambassador Beau said Botswana’s achievements in agriculture showed that it had possibilities for growth.

She noted  that developing the agricultural sector was crucial as underlined many times by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Noting that food security was a major problem  worldwide due to agriculture systems challenges such as climate change, Ms Beau explained that the letter’s aim  was to establish the best projects that could be duplicated elsewhere in southern Africa.

She said cooperation between Botswana Vaccine Institute and France had contributed to making Botswana a regional and global player in the manufacturing and supply of livestock vaccines. Ends