09 Dec 2021

Local horticultural farmers have hailed government’s recent decision to restrict importation of some vegetables to protect and grow the local market.

In an interview, Ms Neo Seate of Senela farm said the move would go a long way in addressing some of the challenges farmers faced and would also motivate them to manoeuvre the complex horticultural market.

“The decision to close borders for a longer period is what we have been advocating for as we have been competing with advanced farmers in other countries.

Even restricting importation for short periods was not working for us since some retailers had a habit of stock-piling imported vegetables to last them the whole period of restriction,” she said.

A press release dated December 3 indicates that the government will restrict the importation of potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, garlic, onions, ginger, turmeric, chilli pepper, butternut water melons, sweet peppers, green mealies and fresh herbs effective next month for a period of two years, subject to review thereafter.

The decision is in line with both the Vision 2036 pillar of Sustainable Economic Development which calls for achieving prosperity for all as well as enhancing the Reset Agenda priority that promotes value chain development.

However, she noted that the decision called for farmers to come together through associations in order to collectively work towards satisfying the local market.

She also underscored the need to employ effective cropping plans that would enable them to produce adequate vegetables continuously.

She further called for officials to guard against unsafe procedures that could endanger the lives of consumers.

“They should ensure and enforce that we follow safe producing procedures that are healthy for consumers,” she noted.

Ms Seate urged Batswana to support local farmers and exercise patience as there was bound to be teething challenges, considering most farmers were not fully prepared.

For his part, Silver Horizon director Mr Petrus Michau applauded government for the efforts to support local farmers and protect them from the international market which he said was more advanced and organised.

He said the decision would also benefit future generations in the long run since farming was mostly passed from one generation to another.

He said Botswana farmers were faced with various challenges such as high utility bills and expensive fertilizers intended to augment poor soils and therefore could not compete with the pricing offered by international farmers.

He said even though the decision to restrict importation for two years would assist local farmers to regroup and pick up their production to satisfy the local market, unfavourable climatic conditions still hindered them from producing throughout the year.

“If you take potatoes for example, we are trying to satisfy the December/January market but out of the five years we have been able to realise some gains for only two years because the other three years were just too hot and too dry.

Harvesting potatoes in a 45 degrees weather makes them to rot within three days, no matter what you do,” he explained.

Consequently, he underscored the need to empower local farmers with skills on how to survive country’s peculiar weather conditions for better production. ENDS