04 Dec 2023

Developing value chains within the agricultural sector could create more jobs for young people and contribute towards food security in the country, Jwaneng mayor, Ms Olga Ditsie, has said.

Speaking at the first annual Youth Agribusiness Forum held at Jwaneng on Saturday, Ms Ditsie underscored the need for youth to strategize on initiatives that could drive economic activity around Jwaneng for diversification.

“As a mining town, we need to strategise on how to diversify our economy beyond diamond mining, and agribusiness should be part of that,” she said.

Ms Ditsie commended organizers for creating an interactive and informative platform which also broke the stereotype that agriculture was for old people. She said it was inspiring to see people venture into agriculture at a young age and turning into profitable ventures.

She noted that the initiative was aligned with the national objective of attaining food security and creating employment.

She implored relevant stakeholders to offer their support to ensure that the initiative was sustainable and continued to empower the youth across the country.

She called on young people to consider collaborations on manufacturing and processing in order to close market gaps locally.

“I encourage you to work on partnerships that could tap into the market, even the Local Economic Development Strategy needs private sector partnership for implementation,” she said.

The organiser, Mr Bond Tlhagale of Bontlha Farming Enterprises, said they intended to make an annual event through which they created a platform for young farmers and aspiring farmers to interact with other industry players in the agricultural sector.

He noted that bringing together various stakeholders, including those in agro processing, could go a long way in enhancing the quality of agriculture in the country.

“The plan is to go nationwide with this agenda, but we wanted to start in Jwaneng to sensitize young people around here about transforming agriculture into business to generate profit. We want them to know various programmes available in the sector and also engage with major stakeholders, including those in research and development,” he said.

He noted that since young people were facing challenges such as lack of land and start-up capital, they created a platform for them to network with established farmers to build partnerships which they could use to close those gaps.

Principal technical officer from Department of Crop Production, Ms Ketshabile Tlhokwane called on attendants to familiarise themselves with Temo Letlotlo guidelines and use the programme to contribute towards food production in Botswana.

She said the programme was suitable for both subsistence and commercial farmers.

She also said the registration system, which was linked to other government systems, was more efficient compared to the manual one.

She emphasised the importance of record keeping in agriculture, for easy monitoring of progress and challenges.

“Records keeping is an important aspect of agriculture,” she noted. Ends