08 Apr 2024

Government will deliver another empowerment initiative, Magokanyane Letlotlo programme for Batswana in a bid to contribute to the overall value of agricultural endeavours, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has said.

The programme would complement Temo Letlotlo, a multi-sectoral programme intended to revitalise arable farming towards a more commercial approach and use of agriculture as a drive to attain high economy status. 

The President was officiating at the inaugural Ngamiland Farmers Field Day held at Mowana Twin Farm, about eight kilometres from Nokaneng on April 6.

“If my government is returned into power in October, we will put together and deliver another new empowering programme known as Magokanyane Letlotlo,” he said.

He said the Magokanyane Letlotlo, which would be a technology driven initiative aimed at value chain development and improvement of the agriculture sector would be launched in the North West region.

President Dr Masisi also said this month, another agricultural programme called Thuo Letlotlo, would be launched in Serowe.

The programme, he said, would motivate people to keep a variety of animals, not only the common domestic animals. He said the programmes were testament to government commitment to stimulating the agriculture sector to help the country to be food secure, create jobs and produce goods locally. 

President Masisi said such programmes and many others, were not only meant to incentivise or motivate output but represented a strategic commitment to Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth.

Value chain development and the continued collective effort of working together to share knowledge and ideas about creating sustainable wealth, which was of benefit to individual households and communities, he said, was something that all must cherish and build on year after year.

“Ngamiland farming community, you are privileged to be premiering a new kind of Farmers Field Day with a distinctive focus. We are gathered here to nurture and enhance value chains on the basis of the various products that we are showcasing,” he added.

President Masisi said that the region was frequently affected by all kinds of agricultural setback, adding that recent donation of 40 bulls was one step of charting the progress that all witnessed in the form of increased production of variety of breeds owned by many participants across the community.

The theme Mindset Change in Farming; Value Chain Development for Food Security in Ngamiland, he noted, encapsulated the essence of government’s vision for sustainable agriculture and prosperity for all farmers regardless of their chosen areas of production. The President informed the gathering that the world was changing rapidly and agriculture was no exception, citing challenges such as climate change, diminishing rangelands, unpredictability and ever-evolving demands of the global market among others.  

In the case of Ngamiland, President Dr Masisi said one of the enormous challenge they faced was from other species in the wilderness, which either kill their livestock or ravage their crops thus compromising livelihoods.

“It is for the government and leadership of this country to correct and to assist despite the views of some elsewhere on the globe who have no first hand appreciation of the difficulties you go through everyday seeking to protect your property and the precious lives, which make this nation,” he added.

He acknowledged that the region had been exposed to the most debilitating effects of nature and as such, it must be saved from regressing or being in a perpetual state of requiring government’s financial and other such support.

He also encouraged communities to learn as much as possible from each other and from various experts and resource persons to make a difference in their farming, adding that they should learn from history and improve how they do things and care for their crops and livestock.

President Dr Masisi revealed that the ideal of sustainable food production required that they continually improve their farming practices by renewing their agricultural knowledge, learning new skills and changing the way they view farming,  adding that they could not view it as a by-the-way kind of activity at the periphery of their time investment. ENDS