On November 14, 2022, His Excellency President Mokgweetsi E.K. Masisi gave the State of the Nation Address. According to the address, one of the main industries used to diversify and improve the economy is agriculture. Since the information about our agriculture sector in this year’s SONA was lengthier than in years past, it will be divided into two segments. Without further ado, let’s discuss what we have achieved and the arable and horticultural prospects of Botswana.
The growth of clusters and value chains in the agricultural sector, according to the President, presents essential potential for food security, economic diversification, and job creation. The adoption of legislation limiting horticulture imports sparked this, giving our farmers the chance to increase production and continuously improve the nation’s food security. The public, however, felt a variety of conflicting emotions as the restriction was implemented; some wanted the borders to remain open since there was a shortage of basic produce in retail stores, while others with a long-term perspective supported this legislation. The law was implemented in the last quarter of 2021 because, among other things, we are now self-sufficient in products like tomatoes, potatoes, and Cole crops. In order to have a wide selection of local produce in our supermarkets, farmers were also encouraged to explore alternative crops. The President is also well aware that in the near future, we will still face issues with undersupply of produce, which ultimately drives up the price of the affected produce, and oversupply, which benefits consumers’ pockets but hurts producers’ profit. Despite this, the President is confident that the market will stabilize in the long run and that everyone who is involved in the horticultural value chain will benefit from this legislation banning imports of horticultural crops.
The expansion of the agricultural value chain is advocated among Batswana. We need people employed in every aspect of our agri-food systems, including agro-processing, cold room storage facilities, distribution, marketing, agricultural agents and consultants, and other agriculturally based careers, because it would not be financially feasible for every Motswana to engage in production. The benefit of thriving agri-value chains is that they cut down on the amount of food commodities that need to be imported, freeing up funds for projects that advance the economy. If these projects are successful, we can even benefit from exporting these goods and building up our foreign exchange reserves. Additional advantages of improved agri-food systems include a rise in food and nutrition security and a reduction in poverty, especially in rural regions.
By 2025, the Selebi-Phikwe Citrus project hopes to have begun exporting a variety of high-quality citrus fruits, including Star Ruby, Premium Mandarins, Valencia Oranges, and Eureka Lemons. The project was launched in 2020. Currently, 700,000 fruit trees have been planted, and more land is being prepared to accommodate another 300,000 trees. It employs over a thousand people (mostly temporary and seasonal workers). As a result, the Selebi-Phikwe Citrus project is progressing well. His Excellency emphasized that for more than 50 years, Botswana has relied on imports to meet its national food security needs. It is time to change this by creating more new opportunities for local horticultural development that also strengthen our nation’s position in economic development progress, as demonstrated by this specific national citrus project.
The Pandamatenga grain storage silos project was mentioned in the previous address with the hope that it will help our nation become grain-self-sufficient and enable it survive droughts. It was planned to be finished in 2022, but due to unforeseen events, it will now likely be finished by March 2023. The President also urged Batswana to benefit from the Impact Accelerator Subsidy, which can be accessed through the National Development Bank and offers horticulture producers a 50% incentive in an effort to maximize local horticultural production and solve issues with food poverty.
Temo-Letlotlo, the eagerly anticipated replacement for ISPAAD that aims to boost productivity and encourage commercialization of the arable farming industry, is expected to go into effect in the financial year 2023–2024. As a result, this year’s ISPAAD season is the last. The yield was impacted by the lower rainfall patterns in 2021. Therefore, a reduction of 34% occurred in the entire production, which went from 100,000 tonnes to more than 66,000 tonnes. This made Botswana less able to satisfy the country’s need for grain, necessitating a review of our approaches to food production.
