18 Jul 2023

Government has over time increased the budget allocation to agriculture and related sectors.

Addressing the Agriculture Joint Sector Review Validation Workshop in Gaborone recently Minister of Agriculture, Mr Fidelis Molao said they had realised some improvements over the years with regard to self-sufficiency ratios in sub-sectors such as horticulture, which had increased from 25 per cent in the late 90s to the current 65 per cent.

He said while they celebrated the small gains they were aware that the challenges facing the sector were substantial, further acknowledging that they had not met the targets set by Maputo and Malabo Declarations of 2003 and 2014 respectively, which called for the allocation of at least ten per cent of the national budget to the agricultural sector.

“I note with concern that we have not been able to meet those targets,” he said.

He said the joint sector review had already set the pace for them to engage in the process for evidence based planning and decision making.

The minister explained that the reviews were being done across the continent as part of transition towards evidence-based policy planning and implementation.

He said the sector review  provided a platform to collectively review the effectiveness of policies and institutions in the agricultural sector.

Such developments, he said, should be welcomed as well as the monitoring of Malabo commitments under the comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP).

The CAADP advocated for greater participation and inclusiveness in terms of planning, designing and implementation for agricultural programmes and projects as it represented the African continent’s road map for agricultural development and transformation, he said.

As a member state of the African Union, Botswana was party to commitments that Africa and SADC region had made towards addressing food and nutrition security, poverty reduction and climate adaptation.

He said Botswana was resolute in its efforts to improve the agriculture sector as it was prioritised in Vision 2036 as well as National Development Plans and strategies.

Minister Molao further stated that the arable sub-sector had already realised good results in commercial clusters. Ends