02 Dec 2021

Government should invest in rural agro industries to stimulate industrialisation in rural areas, says Bobonong MP, Mr Taolo Lucas.

In his contribution to the State-of the-Nation Address on Tuesday, Mr Lucas highlighted that employment opportunities would be created for unskilled workers in rural areas in the agricultural sector upon the cultivation of agro industrial crops.

He emphasised the importance of rural industrialisation, saying lack of opportunities and jobs had led many young people to leave the countryside and migrate to large cities, where opportunities were plentiful and life was attractive.

“Agro-based industries by raising the income levels of rural workers can bring significant changes in the standard of living and the social and cultural attitudes of the rural population. 

Furthermore, rural agro-based industries can contribute to the per capita income of the country at the national level, and the impact can be at the micro and macro level,” he said.

Mr Lucas said agro industries constituted a vital link between agriculture and industries, and that growth in the industrial and agricultural sectors could be an impetus to the growth of the tertiary sector in banking, transport and communications.

The development of the tertiary sector in rural areas, Mr Lucas said, could in turn provide employment opportunities for the rural population. 

He, however, said the rural economy could not be developed through the agricultural sector alone, but also through value addition in the same extractive sectors.

He said there was need for dedicated interventions to go beyond existing product range in order to have a repertoire of high value and high technology products for the regional and global markets.

Mr Lucas raised concern about the government’s ability to diversify the economy and lessen reliance on the diamond mining industry.

The advent of COVID-19, he said, had been a wakeup call for government to reduce dependence on diamonds. 

He said when their sales plunged government was forced to tap into both the foreign reserves and investment accounts, resulting in the government investment account dropping from P18 billion to P4 billion since the pandemic.

Mr Lucas said the hike in levies and taxes to cushion the economy was not fruitful as it had increased the cost of living. 

He added that the hikes would drive poor Batswana deeper into poverty. 

Mr Lucas  said the introduced cost recovery measures were financially constraining since the public was also in the process of recovering from COVID-19 economic impacts.

Mr Lucas also protested low wages, saying there was need for government to review the minimum wage. 

He also called for a living wage in accordance with the cost of living.

Mr Lucas  accused government of using the minimum wage to lure foreign investors through promising cheap labour.

He also talked about under employment, which he attributed to the government internship programme, saying it payed graduates below their worth.

On issues of poverty, Mr Lucas called on government to create tailor-made poverty eradication programmes for areas affected by poverty in the country.

“Statistics Botswana has revealed that poverty is rife in Kweneng West, Kgalagadi South, Ngwaketse West and Ghanzi, hence the need for tailor-made poverty eradication programmes for those areas,” he said, adding that government should avoid a blanket approach to poverty eradication across the country.

The Bobonong MP further decried the status of roads in his constituency. 

He said the Bobonong–Lepokole road was in a bad state although it could be the linkage between Bobirwa and Francistown.

Although he expressed gratitude for the establishment of the cattle rustling commission, Mr Lucas said it was important for the commission’s findings to be made public and for resolutions to be implemented.

He said most of his constituents were impoverished by cross-border cattle rustling, and pleaded with government to establish a livelihood support grant for victims of cross-border cattle theft. BOPA