18 Mar 2026

Acting Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Dr Edwin Dikoloti says through the Lemang Dijo programme e-voucher system, farmers procure seeds including the open pollinated varieties from private suppliers. 

Answering a question in Parliament on Monday, Dr Dikoloti indicated that during the current ploughing season, the ministry had issued 526.8 tonnes of seed to micro-scale farmers, out of which 63 per cent (33.3 tonnes) were open-pollinated varieties while 37 per cent were hybrid seeds. 

He said the OPV seed distributed, 5.6 per cent was Segaolane, while Kalahari Early Pearl Maize was not available on the market. 

He added that farmers in Kanye did not procure Segaolane. 

He said a total of 41.4 tonnes of seed was procured, 9.14 tonnes of which were OPVs and 32.4 tonnes were hybrids. 

Also, he said a higher uptake of hybrid seeds was observed in Kanye, which differed from national uptake pattern. 

He further indicated that under the Lemang Dijo programme, farmers received e-voucher that they used to procure seed from private suppliers. 

“The uptake of OPVs is a positive development because farmers can save seed from the harvested crop for planting in subsequent seasons, thereby reducing dependence on purchasing new seed each year. In addition, OPVs are well adapted to local soil, climates conditions and farming systems,” he said. 

Parliament also heard that government, in partnership with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), was coming up with a new initiative called Botswana Livestock Commercialisation Livestock Project (BoLCoP) that was focused of commercialising livestock production small livestock, particularly targeting poultry and small stock enterprises by improving access to capital, breeding stock and technical support to enhance productivity. 

He said the Lobatse Kanye Jwaneng poultry cooperative (LOKAJWA) cluster was approved in 2009 to construct poultry abattoir. 

However, he said connection of electricity and water was done before the project was interrupted due to financial constraints. 

He added that the project would be completed through the BoLCop). 

In terms of horticultural production, Dr Dikoloti said the Impact Accelerator Subsidy (IAS) was being reviewed to improve its implementation to attain the intended objectives. 

The programme, he said, targeted all eligible farmers irrespective of gender, age and socio-economic status. 

He said the imposition of quantitative import restrictions had encouraged farmers to venture into commercial horticultural production. 

In Kanye, he said, a total of 41 beneficiaries ,14 females and 27 males, had benefited from IAS. 

He further said the Food and Agriculture Organisation one country priority, aimed to enhance the horticulture subsector. 

“Under this initiative, potato production demonstrations will be conducted at four strategic sites which were Kweneng, Good Hope, Palapye and Ngamiland districts with one demonstration at each site,” he explained.

 He said targeted farmers within each catchment area would receive practical training on key production processes, followed by continuous support to ensure that the necessary skills were acquired. 

Dr Dikoloti indicated that the performance of the horticultural sector in Kanye district indicated steady growth in participation. 

Currently, he said a total of 86 farmers were enrolled in horticultural production, comprising 48 males and 38 females, 13 of which were youth farmers, including nine males and four females, reflecting growing youth involvement in the sector. 

Furthermore, he said as January this year, the district youth recorded a total horticultural production of 1 604.97 tonnes, 927.17 tonnes of which were produced by male farmers while 680.80 tonnes were produced by female farmers. 

Kanye East MP, Mr Prince Mosanana had asked the minister whether the ministry was able to supply indigenous seeds of Kalahari Early Peal Maize and Segaolane that used to be main seeds for local farmers and what programmes were in place to assist the youth and women in Kanye to enter commercial farming, especially horticulture, poultry and small stock production. ENDS