By: Oteng Ntlotlang
Gaborone-Botswana. The Mosisedi Commercial Farmers Association Chairperson, Gofaone Mapitse, said they are expecting low harvest due to inadequate and sporadic rainfall in their area. When speaking during the recently held annual Mosisedi Harvest Day under the theme "Unlocking arable farming potential to boost the economy and attract the next generation," Mapitse revealed that the sporadic rainfall has led to most of the farmers in their area to expect a harvest loss of 65-90% of the target yield.
The Mosisedi Commercial Farmers Association is a cluster of 25 farmers who farm over 10 000 hectares. Despite the rainfall challenge, among others, Mapitse argued that there is growth in terms of production in the area. In the 2020/21 ploughing season, they produced 12 457mt, which was an average of 1.71t per hectare, while in the 2021/22 ploughing season, they had 14 427mt from a planted area of 5 410 hectares, which is an average of 2.68t per hectare. Mapitse said their intention is to utilise every drop of rain they get and farm sustainably to achieve profitability and contribute to the nation's efforts towards food security and self-sufficiency.
Meanwhile, the anticipated low harvest in Mosisedi is just the tip of the iceberg, as low yield is expected across the country. When speaking on behalf of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Nancy Chengeta, the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD) Coordinator Kwenantle Gaseitsiwe, revealed that collected data so far indicate that 36 519 farmers across the country have planted a total of 180 342ha. He stated that the Southern District accounts for 31% while Mosisedi accounts for only 3% of the ploughed area. The anticipated low harvest across the country is envisaged to make the country rely on imports.
For his part, Minister of Entrepreneurship Karabo Gare, who was the guest speaker, underscored the need for all key stakeholders to work together to develop the arable farming sub-sector. He stated that the statistics that Africa's food import bill stands at around P75bn, but with uncultivated farmland of approximately 65%, needed to be addressed. He said the Ministry they are developing a framework between Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB), Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA), and National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NARDI) to ensure cohesion in serving the farming community for better production outputs.
CCARDESA supported the event with climate-smart agriculture knowledge products that were distributed to the farmers and other meeting participants.
The author is a Reporter at Smart Farming Times in Gaborone, Botswana.
