Africa-Press – Botswana. Minister of Agriculture, Mr Fidelis Molao has encouraged Selebi Phikwe residents to explore alternative agricultural packages in particular Apiculture and Aquaculture to drive economic diversification and create employment opportunities.
Mr Molao said this during the Aquaculture and Apiculture mini workshop held in Selebi Phikwe on Tuesday.
He informed the residents that even though the livestock sub-sector had been the predominant sector and a major livelihood for Batswana, fish farming and bee keeping were equally profitable because of the high demand for fish and honey.
The availability of Mmadinare fish hatchery and Selebi Phikwe Citrus project in the SPEDU region, he said was an advantage to Selebi Phikwe residents as the two projects laid a strong foundation for those who wanted to venture into fish farming and bee keeping, adding that the national demand for fish stood at 5 000 metric tonnes.
Mmadinare fish hatchery produces and supplies fingerlings across the country and provides training to locals interested in venturing into fish farming.
Mr Molao encouraged them to apply for fish and bee keeping packages under Thuo Letlotlo programme, saying the programme had a wide array of packages and left no one behind.
For her part, Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Beauty Manake explained that the country only produced 13 per cent of the national demand for honey with deficit met through importation.
She said the honey industry had a great potential to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the Selebi Phikwe economy through the citrus project.
The availability of the country’s biggest citrus project with 800 hectares of citrus trees, she said required over 33 000 boxes of bee colonies.
She said currently the farm had only 100 boxes of bees, which were not enough to pollinate the whole farm.
Ms Manake also explained that there were other citrus farms available in the SPEDU region which also required more colonies of bees, encouraging bee keepers and those interested in the sector to make use of these opportunities.
Regarding the fish industry, Ms Manake called for Selebi Phikwe Town Council to open the park for agricultural activities such as fish farming.
She also encouraged the residents to work in groups or form cooperatives to make it easier for them to access funding, adding that the government encouraged the establishment of cooperatives as a means to create wealth for Batswana and create job opportunities.
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