14 Aug 2024

Ngamiland farming community has been urged to take advantage of the innovative solutions offered by National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NARDI) to better their farming methods.

The institute is set to engage in high quality, intensive innovation and needs driven research and development as well as commercialisation and technology transfer activities across the agriculture value chain to benefit farmers, industry, consumers, government and science.

Standing in for NARDI chief executive officer during the official opening of the institute science week satellite event held at Nhabe Museum on Tuesday, the director for Food Science and technology, Dr Minah Mosele noted that Ngamiland community mainly relied on agriculture, saying that if they could apply the innovative solutions, they would reap the greatest return and eventually ensure food security.

During the event, NARDI showcased technologies and farming methods which farmers could employ to improve their farming and increase production.

Noting that the event was part of NARDI’s commitment to promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), education awareness, Dr Mosele informed the gathering that the institution was set to generate innovative solutions for agriculture sector.

She said NARDI researches were meant to bring changes and developments to farming.

She urged farming community to embrace mindset change and  to apply such solutions and farming methods to change their livelihoods, noting that COVID-19 pandemic had taught Batswana a lesson to stand up and ensure food security.

“We are here to help farmers to do things differently and encourage them to adapt to innovative solutions and have bumper harvest and also benefit in the value chain development,” she added.

Dr Mosele said farmers had to also diversify food production as well as enhance their marketing strategies in order to penetrate the market. 

She said  research had shown that crops such as beans were doing well in North West district hence she encouraged farmers to utilise NARDI services to increase production to feed the nation.

Kgosi Tawana II thanked NARDI for hosting the event and opening an office in Maun, saying members of the community would have the opportunity to acquire knowledge and learn best methods to resuscitate agriculture sector.

He said majority of households in Ngamiland depended on growing of crops and rearing livestock to sustain their livelihoods.

The district, Kgosi Tawana said prided itself with abundant water due to rivers, water channels and fertile soils noting that many residents practiced traditional farming system commonly known as ‘molapo farming’ that made use of fields located close to water sources.

“This is an important livelihood activity that most households depend on for survival because it produced high yields. It was unfortunate as we experienced a decrease in food production due to developments and climate change and many people abandoned their farms  to rely on modified and processed food and thus collapsed most of the agriculture productions.

“I am pleased that NARDI is here giving us hope by bringing innovative solutions that we can apply to trace back our roots and take farming back to its glory days to become the bread basket again provided we fully apply their technologies and farming methods,” he added.

Kgosi Tawana also acknowledged that some agricultural scheme availed by the government had sparked interest as many including young people had developed interest to embrace agric-business.

He encouraged them to utilise NARDI services in order to thrive.

Held under the theme: An Enquiring Mind a Gateway to Creativity and Innovation, the event was aimed to bring engaging and interactive science activities closer to the local community to foster curiosity, spark interest in science and showcase its relevance in everyday life.  ENDS