09 Aug 2022

Pandamatenga farmers have been commended for venturing into horticulture production as the initiative fitted well with government decision to ban importation of certain produce.

Speaking at the Chobe Agricultural Show, Minister of Agriculture, Mr Fidelis Molao said there had been noticeable growth in crop diversification as some farmers had started producing potatoes and butternuts.

Mr Molao applauded the Pandamatenga farmers for the commitment in working with government to achieve food security goals for Botswana even though they had been at the receiving end when it came to producer prices.

The minister noted that the country had cooking oil processing plants that needed the farmers’ support to produce cooking oil at affordable prices for Batswana.

He said the small scale millers should be supported to stay in business.

Mr Molao also called on farmers to come together and come up with ways that could ensure Botswana was sufficient in food.

He said his ministry’s task of generating ideas that would ensure the country attained food security following the disruptions of the food supply chains experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, presented an urgent need for import substitution of agricultural products.

“Our country is still highly dependent on food imports and has an open economy, which exposes us to volatile global markets,” he said.

He said through the Reset Agenda, his ministry had been identified as one of the key sectors earmarked to transform the country’s economy.

The minister said that therefore called for a well-defined sector transformation value chains that created and built value at every stage from agricultural production, processing, distribution, retailing to consumption as well as quantity restrictions on commodities that could be produced locally to stimulate local production.

He assured the farmers that his ministry was working on bringing forth all stakeholders to work together and develop strategies that would position farmers in better space both in local and international markets.

Mr Molao said Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board was spending more to fulfill its mandate to provide a market of locally grown scheduled crops and ensure adequate supply existed for sale to customers at affordable prices.

In his remarks, the chairperson of the Pandamatenga Commercial Farmers Association, Mr Ryan Neal thanked all stakeholders for the upgrading of the Pandamatenga Farms Infrastructure.

Mr Neal said the roads and drainage system made a significant difference to farm operations in Pandamantenga farms as evidenced by increased yields.

He said the 12 new Special Economic Zone Authority (SEZA) silos would play a huge role in securing food for the country.

Mr Neal said although the world was going through turbulent times of COVID-19, the government should be rest assured that every hectare available in Pandamatenga was put into production to date.

He congratulated all the farmers for not giving up even though the last two years were not easy for them due to unprecedented increases of agricultural inputs prices.

He said despite the prices, the farmers carried on their mandate of providing food and earning the country foreign exchange by ensuring the seeds were sown.

Mr Neal said the 2021/22 planting season started with challenges because in January farmers struggled to plant sorghum as the farms were flooded, following a 200mm rainfall which caused damage to sorghum production.

He said the farmers however managed to adapt because by the end of the planning season, 11 500ha of sorghum which is 37 000 metric tonnes of grain sorghum was planted. He said sunflower was the next major crop with 10 500ha and green mung with 10 400ha.

Mr Neal said green mung had put Botswana on the international map in terms of export and Pandamatenga produced the best quality sorghum and green mung in the world.

He said this planting season a total of 3200 ha of cowpeas, 1500ha of chickpeas, 650 ha of wheat, 470ha of maize, 345ha of soya beans and 30ha of sugar beans were planted.

He said while sorghum was a staple food in Botswana could withstand the harsh weather conditions, he had fear that its production was under threat because farmers could not make profit with the current BAMB prices.

He said there was need to bring heads together to save sorghum as already its production had reduced by 50 per cent due to competition with maize meal from South Africa.

“Sorghum attracts a better price abroad as consumers are aware of its health benefits and here locally there is need to come up with strategies to promote consumption of sorghum,” he said. ENDS