21 Jan 2024

The year 2024 has been declared a drought year due to minimal rains and veld fires, Vice President Mr Slumber Tsogwane has said.

Addressing kgotla meetings in Kedia and Toromoja on January 19, he said drought relief programmes had been increased and that the Ipelegeng programme quota had  been increased to absorb 10 000 people.

Mr Tsogwane, who is also Boteti West MP, said  those staying in farms would have opportunities to sustain their lives through building roads that led to farms.

He also said an animal feed subsidy had been introduced to give farmers a chance to procure a variety of feeds. Mr Tsogwane further informed residents that boreholes had been increased in wildlife parks to give animals access to water.

He urged farmers to conserve the environment by keeping a moderate number of cattle in order to avoid land degradation.

For his part, Temo Letlotlo coordinator, Mr Kwenantle Gaseitswe said the programme was productivity based and that its main aim was to improve food security. 

He added that it had two components being household food security and national food security.

The coodinator explained that the household food security component assisted micro-scale farmers with 100 per cent subsidy. 

He said farmers would be capacitated to grow enough crops to meet their household food security needs.

Mr Gaseitswe said the national food security component targeted small-scale, medium-scale and large scale farmers as well as groups and clusters. 

He said under the component farmers would be provided with seasonal loans at prime rate through the National Development Bank (NDB) to purchase inputs.

He added that farmers acquiring loans through the programme would be required to purchase a Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS) to mitigate the risks associated with crop loss. 

He said the grain produced would be marketed through Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board and other channels to meet national food security needs and to export surplus.

He said 13 priority crops had been identified in 25 distinct product spaces with the core objective of wealth creation through value addition.

The programme, he said, empowered farmers to select crops that had optimal and high yield in order to reduce production costs and optimise financial gains. 

He said the priority crops were sorghum, millet, maize, sunflower, safflower, wheat, sugar beans, groundnuts, mung bean, fodder, rice, soya bean and cowpeas among others.

One of the residents in Toromoja, Mr Kaombona Kanani asked whether there were plans to establish the Thuo Letlotlo programme. 

He also asked if Temo Letlotlo covered horticulture and if the fencing component covered game proof fences.

In response, Mr Gaseitsewe said plans to establish Thuo Letlotlo were underway and that a game proof fence was also included. Ends