Africa-Press – Botswana. The ban on importation of some vegetables is bad economics, says Vice President and Minister of Finance, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe when responding to questions from legislators after presenting a statement on the state of the country’s finances.
“I will put it to you that the ban is bad economics in fact very bad economics,” he said, adding that anything that needed to be sustained through tariffs was bad economics.
He said that was the case with the food and vegetable ban, saying the produce had become more expensive, affecting mostly the low-income groups in society.
He said low-income groups were struggling as they spent more of their income on expensive vegetables due to the ban.
Notwithstanding that, he said indeed farmers had benefited and were benefiting.
He said the way to grow farming industry was not necessarily through importation bans and tariffs. The Vice President said a number of things needed to be done such as targeted subsidising, not only through funding but research and development as well as hand holding farmers.
The Vice President said Botswana was a small country which needed the outside market therefore, it was the intention of the new government to create services and goods to be exported. “We have a small market, we need to create enterprises that export to the rest of Africa, to the rest of the globe,” he said. He explained that because of its small size, Botswana needed the outside world more than the outside world needed it therefore, banning imports was not necessarily creating jobs but destroying opportunities.
However, he said even in unwinding, it should be done with due diligence as unwinding itself could have deleterious effects on the economy.
“That is why every decision you make no matter how good it might look, you need to be very cautious and gradual in how you unwind to the right position,” said Mr Gaolathe.
The Vice President was answering questions from Members of Parliament who wanted to know government’s position with regard to vegetable importation ban, that was imposed by the previous government with an aim to support the local horticulture industry.
The previous administration imposed a ban on fresh produce such as tomatoes, watermelon, cabbage, potatoes, ginger, onions, green paper and butternuts. Initially the ban was expected to end January 2024 but was extended to December next year.
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