Botswana: The Vice President of Botswana, Slumber Tsogwane, yesterday officiated at the Chobe Agricultural Show in Pandamatenga held under the theme “Unity and Technology for Chobe, Filling the Botswana Food Basket”.
In his remarks, Vice President Tsogwane urged farmers to feed Batswana first before exporting to other countries. The Vice President noted that there has been some speculation that most of the produce from Pandamatenga is exported and later resold back at higher prices.
Vice President Tsogwane, who is the champion of SEZA Botswana, said that Pandamatenga had been identified as one of the Special Economic Zone Areas in the country bearing the agro-industry development, which includes land, infrastructure support, storage and processing facilities.
Speaking on behalf of the Pandamatenga Commercial Farmers Association, Jaco Strachan submitted that this year has been difficult for farmers as the country did not receive good rains. He said despite the unfavourable weather conditions and other challenges, they managed to plough over 40 000 hackers and managed to produce a significant amount of grains for the country.
Strachan said that for this ploughing season, 40000ha of sorghum and 11000ha of sunflower were planted among other crops creating over 3000 jobs. He further said farmers are committed to producing sorghum for the country and hoping that in years to come; they will produce even more.
The agricultural show was graced by, among others, the Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Transport and Public Works and Minister of Justice and Security.
