Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana continues to be known for its high quality grass fed beef in the international beef market space.
Vice President and area MP for Boteti West constituency Mr Slumber Tsogwane said this during the livestock management and industries exposition in Rakops on Saturday.
He applauded farmers for the continuous production of the best beef in the world using fodder and forage to sustain the European Union, Norway and other markets.
He said to sustain markets, the country needed to work hard in increasing national herd and at the same time, managing environmental challenges that come with the effect of climate change and human activities.
Recent survey, he said indicated that the constituency had 56 355 cattle, 3 142 sheep, 14 413 goats, 1 999 horse and 3 761 donkeys.
“With these large numbers of livestock, we should be able to create value out of them,” he said.
Mr Tsogwane said the aim of the expo was to promote modern livestock farming with a view to increase livestock to create wealth for everyone and earn income for the country.
“As you are all aware of our commitment to tap into the Middle East market, where we will sell our smallstock, we want to improve national herd, hence the need for an expo of this nature to facilitate peer to peer learning,” he said.
He said the expo was also meant to empower and motivate aspiring breeders and farmers to appreciate the potential of the sector.
Mr Tsogwane indicated that the objective was to collaborate with government departments and other stakeholders to build capacity and empower both farmers as well as herders to address issues of poor livestock management practices, problems of farming in the wildlife conflict zone.
He also talked about government’s plan to improve quality and increase quantity of livestock through artificial insemination as a way of increasing the income of marginal and small scale farmers in Boteti West.
Mr Tsogwane said there was an intention to promote sustainable and profitable cattle rearing practices that support commercialisation of beef production in Boteti District.
The event, he noted, provided a platform for all value chain players in the livestock sector to show case their products and technologies that could improve livestock farming.
Mr Tsogwane said it was evident that Batswana continued to develop more interest in the development of agricultural sector by exploiting initiatives and programmes designed by government for sustainable farming and market compliance.
The Vice President said, government was working hard to complement their work by improving agricultural production and removing obstacles for growth of the agricultural sector with programmes such as Temo Letlotlo, Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency and Youth Development Fund among others.
He said in line with the Reset Agenda, government revised the artificial insemination programme in order to improve reproduction efficiency towards the ultimate goal of increasing the national herd.
Mr Tsogwane stated that one of the most worrisome issues in the communal areas, was measles, which threatened the beef industry as the BMC could not sell meat with measles to the international market.
Farmers, he said, were therefore encouraged to take care of their livestock and ensure medical check-ups for the treatment of tapeworm, which transferred measles from human waste to animals.
The expo was held under the theme; Improving Livelihoods Through Improved Cattle Management Practices.
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