Africa-Press – Botswana. As Botswana faces serious economic headwinds such as volatile food prices and unemployment, Batswana have been urged to put agriculture at the centre of the country’s economic renewal.
This was said by the Acting Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Dr Edwin Dikoloti at the inaugural Tlokweng Agricultural show hosted at the Stockman’s Choice field in Tlokweng on August 16.
“Growth is slowing, unemployment especially among youth remains high, and our heavy reliance on mining leaves us vulnerable to global shocks. Food prices have been volatile, and we still import most of what we eat. However, within these challenges lies an extraordinary opportunity, the chance to put agriculture at the centre of our economic renewal,” said Dr Dikoloti.
He said government’s ambition was to modernise the agricultural sector, enhance productivity, unlock economic opportunities and secure food sovereignty for all citizens.
Dr Dikoloti noted that agriculture was more than the growing of crops and the rearing of animals as it offered a platform for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.
“With the right ideas and partnerships, we can turn our fields into high-tech production zones through climate-smart and precision farming. We can surely build agro-processing industries that add value and create jobs before products even leave our borders,” he added.
He said the unwavering commitment by President Advocate Duma Boko to agricultural revitalisation was a clear signal of the value government placed on restoring the sector to its rightful position in the economy.
He highlighted that government’s determination to take the agricultural sector to unprecedented heights was evident in the quality of partnerships it continued to build.
“Botswana currently enjoys strong relations with the European Union, and we have quota-free access to this huge and lucrative market. There are also opportunities to expand into new markets in the SADC region and beyond, selling not just raw produce, but premium Botswana brands,” he said.
He said the recent visit by President Boko to Zambia had opened doors to bold opportunities for Botswana to strike deals not only to purchase produce for consumption but for value addition.
Dr Dikoloti said the current importation of agricultural produce from South Africa must be transformed into opportunities for value addition.
He said in order to achieve that there was need for a transdisciplinary approach that brought together people from across sectors to leverage shared resources, skills and knowledge.
“At present, Botswana produces only 37 per cent of its cereals and 60 per cent of its horticultural needs.
The rest is imported leaving us vulnerable to price swings and supply disruptions. Agriculture’s share of GDP has fallen to just two percent. As government we have set ourselves a target to raise this figure to six percent as soon as possible,” he said.
For his part Botswana Oil Chief Executive Officer, Mr Meshack Tshekedi urged the business community to establish deliberate supplier development programmes to support farmers.
He said as part of his company’s corporate social responsibility initiative they had developed programmes with a sustainability element to support the agricultural sector as identified in the national economic transformation plans.
Mr Tshekedi proposed the establishment of bio diesel plants and the production of liquid petroleum gas.
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