26 Sep 2022

Kgosi  Oscar Mosielele has cautioned Batswana not to depend on government to feed the nation.  

Kgosi Mosielele of Moshupa  was speaking at a cultural event dubbed Molomo Day in Jwaneng on Friday.

Kgosi Mosielele said government had initiatives aimed at  assisting, Batswana to be self-sustainable in food production.

“From many years back government has been coming up with various programmes to support agriculture. We must take advantage of such assistance together with events such as molomo to ensure our food security. This can only be possible if we take onboard the young ones,” he said.

Regarding culture preservation, Kgosi Mosielele said  although it should be used as a trademark to showcase the nation’s pride and where it came from, the rate at which culture was declining  was disturbing.

“This should be a concern to magosi, whose responsibility among others is to ensure its preservation. I would therefore urge magosi around the country to do all they can to correct this anomaly," he said.

He however took  solace in events such as molomo, which he said if taken seriously, had potential to salvage it. Kgosi Mosielele said cultural events such as molomo were affected by the discovery of minerals, which killed agriculture as people rushed for fast money.

He also advised that such events should be used to reward best performing farmers as a way of encouraging upcoming ones.

Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) acting head of strategy and projects, Ms Ruth Seipone said the organisation wished to work with farmers, to create a market for agricultural products, that would ensure food security.

“Agriculture is the backbone of most countries, even civilized ones, so Botswana is also doing the same because the reset agenda requires each ministry to play a part in ensuring its upliftment. So I urge farmers to meet government half way by utilizing existing initiatives,” she said.

She also urged other farmers to emulate those at Pandamatenga and Mosisedi and produce in large quantities. Regarding farmers’ complaints that BAMB bought their produce at low prices, Ms Seipone said BAMB was a price setter and should buy at a price that would ensure the final product at retailers was within reach of the final consumer.

“As an organisation we always dialogue with farmers to avoid high prices to the final consumer. BAMB and farmers are mutual friends,” she said.

For her part, Debswana Jwaneng mine corporate affairs manager, Ms Charity Thite said that COVID-19 and recent world instability indicated a need to be self-sustainable in food. She said this was made worse by the effects of climate change.

She urged the techno savvy young farmers to embrace innovation and technology to produce food. BOPA