24 Jan 2022

The temporary suspension of importation of some horticultural products will create an opportunity for local sector growth.

Speaking during the Southern Horticultural Growers Association (SOHOGRA) annual general meeting in Kanye, Botswana Horticultural Council chairperson, Ms Sekgabo Ramatu said following the importation restrictions, local horticultural farmers had to work hard to meet the local demand.

“We have to produce enough to the extent of exporting surplus produce,” she said.

Importation of products, she said, was the same as exporting employment. “If we produce enough locally, a lot of people would be employed in the sector,” she said.

Ms Ramatu emphasised the need to have a cropping plan in order to have a successful horticultural sector. “We therefore have to strategies on how we are going to meet the local demand,” she said.

She urged farmers to produce quality products that would warrant an increase in prices, noting that quality products would carry satisfactory prices.

Ms Ramatu highlighted the need to test soils before planting, as that would help the farmers on what to grow on that particular field. She also advised them to consult agricultural officers and invite them to their farms.

She said a cooperative society had been formed, that would assist in securing market for their products, urging farmers to sell their products through the Horticulture Cooperative Marketing Society (HOTCOMS).

For her part, HOTCOMS vice chairperson, Ms Keemenao Samokomo indicated that they realised that some farmers failed to pay joining fees, hence the idea to let them bring in products equivalent to the amount of joining fee as their payment.

She advised farmers to sell their products through the cooperative, however she said they should consult first if it was time to bring the particular products they would be having.

The idea behind that, she said was to avoid saturating the market with the same product, which could result in them decaying while in storage, which would be a loss to farmers.

She explained that talks with government to make sure that shops, government and parastatal institutions bought through HOTCOMS were at an advanced stage.

Ms Samokomo also emphasised the need for farmers to work hard to produce quality products that would give such institutions no reason to buy elsewhere but from HOTCOMS.

“If we produce quality products, it will be easier for government to convince such institutions to buy from our cooperatives,” she said.

She explained that if farmers joined cooperatives, they would speak with one voice, noting that products would be sold at favorable prices set by HOTCOMS.

A farmer in Pitseng, Ms Boitumelo Moshoboro suggested that for the sector to grow, farmers should put resources together to produce quality and meet the demand to feed the nation.

Some, she said, had land, others have passion for farming while others have financial resources, hence the need to collaborate and produce enough quality products.

A farmer in Bakwenyane lands, Mr Solomon Diphoko said some big establishments which could buy their products, buy land and plough the same products they had, leading to reduced market prices.

He said they needed graduates from Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) to be attached to farms for knowledge sharing. ENDS