18 Sep 2024

The Ministry of Entrepreneurship has unveiled Maja-a-Ikgorosa, a new initiative designed to help small and medium-sized farmers maximise the value of their agricultural efforts.

The programme follows a recent announcement by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi and is a collaborative effort involving the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board, the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA), and the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA).

A press release from the ministry describes Maja-a-Ikgorosa as a transformative relief programme aimed at revitalising Botswana’s beef industry.

The initiative is in response to the alarming decline of ‘Botswana Beef’ in the global market, attributed to a significantly low supply of conditioned cattle available to the BMC. This trend, the release says has adversely affected the nation’s beef export volume and overall value.

Further, the release highlights the challenges facing Botswana’s primary production system, which is characterised by a semi-arid vegetation profile stating that the environment poses difficulties for farmers and their livestock, directly impacting their ability to sustain livelihoods.

 The press release states, “Among these is farming in a sustainable manner and raising cattle that can go to slaughter without any supplementary feeding.”
It further points out that the costs associated with proper animal feeding and maintenance are often beyond the reach of many farmers, particularly those who produce the majority of the country’s cattle.

The ministry emphasises the need for an equitable correction of this imbalance to provide meaningful value to all involved.
Currently, small and medium-sized farmers, who account for 80 percent of the cattle population, grapple with prohibitive feed costs that hinder production and cash flow at the farm level.

Many of these disadvantaged farmers, in desperate need of cash, are compelled to sell unconditioned cattle to the BMC or privately-owned feedlots at prices well below market value.

“This phenomenon unduly widens wealth disparities and perpetuates a vicious cycle that offends the key element of the National Vision ‘Prosperity for All’,” the release asserts.

Therefore, the release states that Maja-a-Ikgorosa seeks to enable farmers to gain direct access to the BMC, allowing them to achieve more reasonable market pricing for their cattle. Ends