Africa-Press – Botswana. The beef industry, has over time lost its dominance due to rapid growth of other sectors particularly mining.
However, government is committed to resucitate the sector to promote sustainable agricultural practices.
Speaking at the 7th edition of the Charleshill District agricultural show on July 11, Vice President, Ndaba Gaolathe, said agriculture remained stagnant while other sectors thrived and he assured the community that government was developing an Economic Transformation Programme, which would serve as a blueprint for Botswana’s long-term economic diversification and transformation.
The plan, he said, envisioned a high-income, private sector driven and export led economy anchored on productivity, inclusivity and sustainability.
Mr Gaolathe added that government had made great strides in transforming the sector through, extensive consultations with farmers, research, benchmarking exercises as well as injecting funds to revitalise the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC).
He said so far, through the benchmarking exercises, leadership had secured partnerships with profitable markets of China and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Furthermore, he implored farming communities to support the government’s economic diversification efforts at local level to enable government to meet the diverse markets demands.
Moreover, he informed them that as government’s commitment to revive different sectors, agriculture included, they secured a loan from Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and some of the monies would be utilised to address issues pertaining to the farming industry.
He therefore, called for collaboration between farmers by forming cooperatives to strengthen the beef industry and other related agricultural value chain.
Giving the overview of the show, district show committee chairperson, Mr Kagiso Van Zyl said their long vision was to make the agricultural show self-sufficient to brand and promote the district
He also said they wanted to transform the 2km by 2km horse track into a multi-use agricultural expo centre, that would draw investments into livestock processing, dairy processing and horticulture value chains.
Mr Van Zyl said the objective of the 7th edition event was to call for an action amongst the farming community. He said in order to cultivate resilience amongst farmers, and nation at large, they promoted adaptation and innovation to sustain the agricultural productivity despite harsh and ever-changing climate conditions.
He said the theme was relevant to their communities, which largely depended on livestock, rain-fed crops and small holder horticulture.
“Climate change, has not been a distant theory to us, it is a lived experience, we have seen it all” he said. He said the district was faced with challenges of frequent droughts, unreliable rainfall, pressurised rangeland and declining underground water levels.
Mr Van Zyl said the event would also rebrand and promote Charleshill as vibrant district with untapped opportunities that needed to be explored.
Moreover, he said it would promote cross border trade with Namibia as well as utilising their strategic position near Trans Kalahari Corridor (TKC)..
In addition, he said it would also encourage knowledge exchange and capacity building through demonstrations and stakeholder.
On other issues, he said a large chunk of land which was well resourced with sufficient water supply, remained underutilised due to lack of electricity owing to high connection fee.
He therefore, pleaded for subsidising electrification connection for projects that have the potential to grow rural economies.
He also decried lack of sponsorship, stating that they currently relied on support from community members.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, deputy chairperson of Ntlo Ya Dikgosi, Kgosi Mbao Kahiko III, commended Charleshill community for their efforts in promoting the agricultural sector which he said supported government efforts to attain adequate food security.
He said the communities had transformed from subsistence to commercial farming.
He said the communities’ efforts to promote commercial farming were negated by lack of market for such produce.
For his part, Charleshill District Council chairperson, Mr Baduetse Setswalo, said the district was endowed with land, tourism destinations among others. Mr Setswalo said as an emerging district, Charleshill had the potential for economic diversification and growth in sectors like agriculture, culture and sports tourism and their strategic position along the TKC.
He implored potential investors, both domestic and foreign to actively seek to partnership with district council to fuel regional growth.
He also called for community involvement in the development processes as it played a vital role for ensuring unsustainable and inclusive growth.
In his closing remarks, Member of Parliament for Charleshill, Mr Motsamai Motsamai, called for the review and relaxation of some policies and regulations deemed a hindrance to the growth of the farming sector.
He also called for infrastructure development in production areas such as road networks, electricity and communication networks that he said were essential for supporting commercial farming business.
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