Africa-Press – Botswana. Promoting value addition in the agriculture sector would go a long way in increasing production and enhancing the quality of produce, Minister of Entrepreneurship, Mr Karabo Gare, has said.
Speaking at Letlhabile Southern Young Farmers Expo held under the theme, ‘Promoting Youth Inclusion in Value Chain,’ held in Jwaneng on Saturday, Mr Gare noted that government programmes and initiatives towards value addition were intended to motivate farmers to appreciate the value of their products. “This value addition will benefit farmers because we want them to see the real value of their livestock and consequently take proper care of them,” he said.
Mr Gare said more than P100 million would be channelled towards enhancing horticultural sector, to increase production following the restriction of importation for some vegetables.
He said the move for such restriction was intended to grow the local vegetable market, both in quantity and quality. “These initiatives are intended to empower and capacitate the local farmers for increased production and also enhance value addition in the market,” he noted.
He implored Batswana to be innovative and use modern technologies to improve the agricultural sector, to ensure production even during drought. He also urged them to explore the various opportunities created in the value chain, towards economic diversification and food security.
Ms Basadi Molelekeng, a commercial farmer at Pandamatenga, applauded young farmers for their perseverance amid challenges in the agriculture sector. She said their commitment and hard work during a drought year showed resilience and the will to feed the nation.
She said contrary to popular perception, farming was best for young people because it was labour intensive and emotionally draining. She said unlike during advanced age, young people had the energy to work and also the mind sets to adopt modern farming technologies for improved yields.
Ms Molelekeng urged the farmers to work hard to increase their share in Africa’s food import bill, which she said was high. She regretted that Africa had large uncultivated land yet the food import bill remained high, with prospects to increase if action was not taken.
“Africa’s annual food import bill is estimated at USD 35 billion and is anticipated to increase if we do not take action. Let us explore the value chains which could give us a share of this import bill,” she said. She also underscored the need for farmers to collaborate and work together towards a common purpose of feeding the nation. She said farming was a difficult and expensive enterprise which needed supportive structures. “Farming is something that you can’t do alone, no matter how much money you have, you need fellow farmers to be successful,” she said.
Jwaneng Mine’s Senior Finance Manager, Ms Carol Ralebala, said there was need for mind set change to focus on opportunities and innovations that could transform the agriculture sector. She said Batswana needed to go back to the drawing board and review how they could improve agriculture for economic diversification post the diamond era.
“As we all know the future of diamonds is not guaranteed so we need to go back and invest in technologies which can grow agriculture for improved output,” she said. She said through projects such as Diamond to Mutton, under Citizen Economic Empowerment Programme (CEEP), Debswana was committed to contributing towards empowering and capacitating local farmers to produce good quality small stock for economic diversification.
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