06 Jul 2023

Local agricultural sector has the potential to generate more profit for local farmers through beef production value chain development, Minister of Enterpreneurship Mr Karabo Gare has said.

Officiating at Voorslaag Boteti Agricultural and Mining Exposion in Letlhakane, he said, Botswana farmers should not only get profit on cattle sales by Botswana Meat Commission, but should also gain value through the value addition on beef production.

He stated that the new thinking in enterprise development reflected a value chain approach which put more emphasis on the use of knowledge and making fundamental challenges in enterpreurial organsations involved in commodity supply chains.

“We want a share in value addition,” he said, emphasising that as buyers added value to the local beef, producers should also get a share, “ga re tshwanela gore re kgaogane le kgomo fela ko BMC,” he added.

He noted that during the benchmarking exercise in Norway they were informed that Botswana beef had the potential to cash between P400 and P700 per kilogram. Mr Gare said he did not see any difference on negotiation for a share on beef value addition and that of diamonds.

The potential of value chains in the agricultural sector, he said, encompassed farm inputs, production, processing, distribution and market access all bolstered by the digital world of technology.

Ministry of Enterpreneurship, he said, was committed to creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive. 

He urged Voorslaag community to collaborate with government to unlock full potential of the agriculture and mining sectors, ensuring sustainable economic growth, job creation for future generations to come.

For his part, BMC livestock procurement executive manager Mr Kenneth Makubate said over 440 000 cattle were exported to South Africa, and they increased prices to match the export prices. 

He said they have experienced an increase as a total of 32 635 cattle supplied had been slaughtered by Lobatse and Maun plants which translated to 41 per cent of 2023 throughput budget of 80 000 cattle.

He said majority of the animals were sourced from zone 11, 13, 12 and 10, adding tthat he supply was from the big farms and feedlots situated within the zones.

He stated that top cattle in Lobatse were sold at P24 264.90 whilst for Maun the highest purchase was P13 165.70, noting that Boteti farmers fell within the top 20 with an animal which fetched P20, 296. 00.

He said cattle producers had been failing to meet 180 kilogram carcass weight target and had dropped it to 160 kilogram carcass weight.

Mr Makubate said they increased a Limited Time Incentive Scheme in January 2022 with the highest price rate of P42 per kilogram for EU compliant cattle. 

He said measles penalty was also reviewed and reduced from P11 per kilogram to P1 per kilogram from the base price for all EU detained carcasses.

Dr Jaone Sebina from Botswana Animal Information Traceability System (BAITS) expressed concern that farmers were failing to care of their stock and were ignorant of the numbers of their cattle.

The expo was held under the theme Embracing the Digital World of Technology: Unlocking the Power of Technology for Business Growth. ENDs