18 Jun 2023

 Various speakers at Mookane Farmers Day on Saturday called on all Batswana to embrace farming.

 Farming, as often said, remains the one activity that Batswana have always been devoted to and a worthy enterprise for individuals and the country.

Themed: Improving Agricultural Production and Productivity Through Women Empowerment in Botswana, the event sought to encourage women to take up farming, efforts supported by Minister of Finance, Ms Peggy Serame.

Requisite infrastructure and internet connectivity, Ms Serame said, were necessary to make farming appealing.

She said the contribution by farmers in Mookane area was promising for both livestock and crops, but more still needed to be done.

In December, 2.75 tonnes of water melons and 31.36 tonnes of butternut were produced by farmers in Mookane area, Ms Serame stated. She said government had a vision to grow the agricultural sector and was determined to see it come to fruition.

Ms Serame said the Feed Africa Strategy by African Development Bank, which sought to assist countries to be self- sufficient in food production, was one programme that entities such as CEDA, Ministry of Agriculture and individuals could learn from.

Another programme still under the African Development Bank, she said, was the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa which offered among other things, financial and technical assistance for women.

She said government recognised how significant agriculture was to the economy and would never tire to develop it, hence plans being underway to transform National Development Bank into an agricultural bank, a development that would result in the bank re-looking into the products offered, to see if they addressed current challenges.

For his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Fidelis Molao, said the Food Agriculture Organisation indicated that 40 per cent of  the global agriculture workforce was women.

He said in areas such as Pandamatenga women got employed in numbers especially during harvest time.

Talking about land shortage, Mr Molao stated that time had come for government to now consider re-sizing farm holdings from 6km by 6km to smaller sizes because with good animal husbandry, it was possible to have profitable farming on a smaller land.

He also talked about the Revised Artificial Insemination (AI) Programmed launched last year November at Dibete camp with the objective to promote adoption and use of new technologies in livestock breeding as well as  promote investment in fodder production.

Mookane Farmer’s Association chairperson, Mr Thapelo Setlalekgosi said the association wanted to assist women to venture into AI because they believed with their delicate nature, women could do it better than men.

“Men are fast and impatient. We identified a gap and want to engage women to fill it,” stated Mr Setlalekgosi. 

In a attendance were minister of Entrepreneurship, Mr Karabo Gare, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse and Mahalapye East MP Mr Yandani Boko. Ends