Africa-Press – Botswana. It is a historic moment for Botswana as President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi yesterday sent off the first consignment of grapefruits to the export markets.
Speaking at Selebi Phikwe Citrus first harvest ceremony at Mannaesi Farm, President Masisi said the first shipment of the citrus fruits to the export markets demonstrated that Botswana had the ability to export other products in agriculture besides beef.
“Today is a special day that epitomises a prologue in our journey to achieve export-led growth contributed to, in part, by the crop sector in the country.
Dr Pieter Scholtz and your team, your names have been embossed in the pages of the history books of the Republic of Botswana as the first company of this magnitude to export fresh citrus fruits to the international markets,” he said.
At a ceremony occurring inside the first of its kind state-of-the-art modernised pack house, the President said the facility would ensure production of citrus fruit that was fully compliant with the stringent quality, Phytosanitary and health requirements of the export markets.
“With the varied activities that take place in the pack house, from fruit treatment to sorting, grading, labelling, wrapping and packing, we can all be assured and proud of each and every citrus product from tree to table,” he said.
He added that the country ensured that a citrus standard, namely, BOS 90:2023 (edition three) was developed, together with citrus grading requirements, so to ensure that fresh fruits packed and sold to different markets globally, were consistently of the right quality.
“For the project and pack house to be used for the export market, it was critical for the two instruments to be registered and be given a Botswana code of BW 001. In this context, today’s occasion is remarkable because it illustrates the power of having a high level of conviction in making investment decisions supported by a comprehensive market intelligence,” he said.
Furthermore, President Masisi said the investors had demonstrated the power of vision, tenacity, zeal and the spirit of entrepreneurship that motivated foreign direct investment into uncharted terrains. “They have weathered the storms. I want to declare without equivocation that, Botswana government and them share a vision of prosperity for Batswana,” he added.
He also indicated that while the debilitating effects of COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many industries across the world, the global citrus industry emerged resilient with strong demand in choice export markets such as those in the Northern Hemisphere.
“It is, therefore, for this very reason that my government has shown unwavering support in establishing a comprehensive compliance system to pave way for fruits from this farm, as well as from other citrus growers in Botswana to access lucrative export markets,” he said.
The President said the establishment of the citrus business, as a flagship agricultural project, had created a stimulus in the SPEDU region and Botswana, having over the past three years, procured goods and services worth over P125 million from local suppliers.
The goods procured from both small and large enterprises, he said included land rentals, irrigation equipment, water, electricity, agrochemicals, staff accommodation, parts and spares. “At full capacity, Selebi Phikwe Citrus will employ over 1 000 people before accounting for other value chain job opportunities.
Again, he said the citrus production and related value chain activities were a global business and the justification for increased demand for fruit and citrus could not be overemphasised given their health attributes.
“This is not all, though, because the project is expected to create numerous backward and forward linkages within the citrus industry value chain. It is my wish to see our private sector taking up opportunities in the citrus industry value chain such as research and development, product compliance and testing laboratories, manufacturing of fruit juice, lemonades and jams, seedlings production as well as fertiliser and pesticides production, just to mention a few,” he added.
Thus, the President emphasised the need to fully exploit opportunities within the citrus industry and create further exports from secondary industries, and most importantly create more job opportunities for Batswana. “It is therefore only fitting that we relentlessly continue with our quest to establish export market access for Selebi Phikwe Citrus,” he said.
He also highlighted the need for sufficient levels of collaboration based on joint venture capital and the co-operative model, adding that in turn, workers would become the repository of a variety of knowledge and skills for the sustainable growth of the industry that placed emphasis on a knowledge-based economy.
The first monument citrus tree of Selebi Phikwe Citrus Farm was planted on December 12, 2020 while on April 16, 2021, the first citrus tree was planted in the orchard. Physical development of the farm, which included the clearing of 1 060 hectares of bush, building required infrastructure and the provision of water and electricity to the farm, started after planting the monument tree.
“It must be noted all of the works in respect of land preparation, orchard layout and orientation, as well as infrastructure development were carried out at a time when COVID-19 pandemic was raging across the country and this often times disrupted the workflow of a lot of farming activities.
Yet, the investors were neither dismayed nor discouraged. Instead, they plucked up courage and were determined to ensure that every critical preparatory step for pedigree citrus fruit production was accomplished,” President Masisi said.
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