02 Nov 2022

In an effort to attain food security, Farmers Clan will host an agro products processing exhibition at Gookodisa this Saturday.

The event would be held at Mountain View farm, situated between Thamaga and Moshupa under the theme: Attaining Food Security Through Innovation and Vital Partnership.

In an interview on Monday, Director at Farmers Clan, Mr Omphemetse Mogorosi, said the idea was to add value to the agricultural produce.

“The event will highlight the opportunities in the value chain, motivate and encourage the nation to play their part in attaining food security,” he added.

He said experts from the agricultural sector would present on their various areas of focus such as animal feed manufacturers, food processors as well as farmers.

Mr Mogorosi said the attendees would be educated on preservation methods, which he said increased shelf life of produce such as making tomato paste.

He said SMMEs would be helped to understand how to increase shelf life of their products without losing value.

Mr Mogorosi said they intended to open an agricultural produce market, by attracting more people to the agricultural processing, where farmers would therefore have an unlimited market to supply.

This whole process, he said, would contribute to employment creation, as more workers would be needed in the value chain, adding rural-urban migration would also be reduced as some manufacturing companies would set up in rural areas, not far from the farms.

Mr Mogorosi advised Batswana to contribute to attaining food security by adding value to farmers’ produce, thereby motivating them to produce more.

“By taking advantage of opportunities in the agricultural value chain, more produce would be needed, therefore pushing farmers to produce more,” he said.

He appealed to potential investors to assist in growing the agricultural sector and eventually contribute to the attainment of food security.

The event, Mr Mogorosi  said would be a networking, benchmarking, marketing and learning opportunity for farmers, individuals and companies, hence his plea to people to come in large numbers.

“We believe that this is a national event, therefore we urge all different stakeholders to play a part, as we strive to attain food security,” he added.

He said they expected a good number of attendees to grace the event and around 40 exhibitors, adding Minister of Entrepreneurship, Mr Karabo Gare, would be the guest speaker, while

Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Ms Nnaniki Makwinja would be one of the guests. ENDS