19 Feb 2023

Peo Africa Limited, an entity of women farmers with the aim of investing in agriculture, has been hailed for coming up at the right time when the national and even global focus was more on food production.

Giving a word of motivation at the launch of the group in Mogoditshane on Saturday, assistant minister of agriculture, Mr Molebatsi Molebatsi said while the COVID-19 pandemic had battered most economic sectors globally, agriculture was one of the few sectors that managed to survive the onslaught, making it worthy to invest in.

“The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has shown the world that there is a gap in food security. 

Most of the countries, Botswana included, has now focused more on self-sustenance in food production, which means agriculture sector is the engine of most economies,” he said. 

Mr Molebatsi said government was now more than willing to assist the sector so that the country could reduce reliance on food imports.

“At the moment, agriculture contributes only two per cent to the GDP and the food import bill hovers at around P8 billion annually, while only 13 per cent of consumed milk is produced locally. 

This is something that government is willing to reverse. 

It is a pity that we import even the basics such as maize and sorghum,” he said.

He said entities such as Peo Africa were therefore a welcome initiative in assisting government to achieve such an objective. 

Mr Molebatsi hailed the recent government’s decision to restrict the importation of horticultural produce. 

He said the move helped in improving local produce, which was now able to supply 60 per cent of the local market needs.

“It is now up to us to fill these remaining gaps and ensure that we rely 100 per cent on local productions. 

These remaining gaps also mean potential wealth for Batswana, so you are sitting on millions,” he said.

Mr Molebatsi, therefore, advised the group, which has bought a 16 hector farm at Lecheng near Palapye to aim for commercial farming, in which case he said his ministry would be willing to assist them to get more land as it was easier to assist a collective than an individual.

Mr Molebatsi also said with the hindsight of the COVID-19 pandemic, government was now willing to tweak agricultural initiatives, hence the decision to review ISPAAD. 

He also advised Peo Africa group to secure a reliable market before they start producing, have access to knowledge and ensure quality products if they were to have longevity.

For her part, Peo Africa advisory board member, Ms Agang Rakhudu said the 55-member, all-women-led entity was committed to producing high-quality fresh produce for the local and international markets.

She said their intention was to specialise in crops, horticulture, poultry and the small stock sectors. 

“We also want to demonstrate that women are equally capable as men. 

We have similar interests and it was only right that we came together to start as a collective,” she said. ends