14 Nov 2022

Government intends to address food security challenges through the agricultural sector, says President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.

President Masisi said one of the interventions was procurement of semen straws for both sexed female dairy cattle and ordinary cattle.

They will be distributed to farmers at subsidized prices to improve milk production.

Presenting State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) yesterday, Dr Masisi said government had strategically positioned Ramatlabama Artificial Insemination Laboratory as a centre of excellence for cattle and small stock assisted reproductive technologies. 

“Semen harvesting technology will be used for semen processing, analysis, packaging, labelling and storage,” he said.

He said the facility would also be used for embryo flushing. 

Dr Masisi said to date, 260 713 cattle semen straws were available at the Ramatlabama laboratory, of which 248 513 were tapped locally while 12 200 straws of cattle semen were procured from abroad.

Dr Masisi said the target was to have 30 imported bulls and 30 females by the end of March 2023. 

“This will help us reach a total of 4.32 million semen straws per year against the current capacity of 40 000,” said Dr Masisi.

Meanwhile, President Masisi said his initiative of donating bucks, rams and bulls was expected to gain momentum and benefit more farmers across the country. 

“To date, 155 farmers across the country have benefited from the initiative,” he said.

He said the agricultural sector continued to create more opportunities for food security, diversification of the economy and employment through the development of clusters and value chains.

Dr Masisi said the Impact Accelerator Subsidy, where horticulture farmers were provided with a 50 per cent grant through the National Development Bank was one of the majors in place to improve food security

Furthermore, he said the introduction of import restrictions on some vegetables and fruits provided a huge market for Botswana. 

“I am aware that consumers continue to encounter challenges of undersupply and increase costs of some fruits and vegetables,” said President Masisi.

Therefore, President Masisi urged Batswana to take advantage of the new market opportunities for local produce and expand their production as well as value-addition. 

Additionally, he implored wholesalers, retailers and consumers to ensure compliance with new government policies with a view to supporting and growing farmers.

As a result of foreign direct investment (FDI), Dr Masisi said a large-scale citrus project was started in Selebi Phikwe in 2020. 

He said the project employed over 1 000 people. 

To date, President Masisi said, 700 000 fruit trees had been planted, adding additional land was being prepared to accommodate a further 300 000 trees.

He said the establishment of the Meat Industry Regulatory Authority (MIRA) will be tabled at the next seating of Parliament. 

He said MIRA would, among other things, enhance competition in the meat sector through licensing of abattoirs, managing animal traceability and promoting the marketing of livestock and by-products. ends