25 Jul 2024

The Ministry of Agriculture has put in place various programmes aimed at promoting sustainable agriculture and improving food security.

Answering a question in Parliament on Tuesday, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Fidelis Molao said programmes such Temo Letlotlo, Impact Accelerator Subsidy (IAS) and Thuo Letlotlo as well as community aquaculture and bee keeping projects were set up with the aim of improving and sustaining the agricultural sector.

Mr Molao said the ultimate goal was to improve food security for all Batswana. He said the programmes were facilitated to ensure that there was food in the household and improve the living standards of communities.

He said for the current ploughing season, 288 farmers were registered and assisted through Temo Letlotlo programme and managed to plant 674 hectares.

For livestock production, Minister Molao said a total of 160 recipients benefited from the LIMID programme in Mabutsane District. He said Thankane registered 24 beneficiaries, 18 for Kanaku and 70 in Mahotshwane.

Furthermore, Mr Molao said the ministry has deployed well resourced personnel to the area to impart and enforce indigenous and modern farming techniques to the farming communities.

He said through the Constituency Community Projects (CCP) fund, the community of Kanaku had bought a tractor.

Mr Molao said the Kanaku residents also had a borehole of good quality water, and would soon be venturing into horticultural farming as well.

“Areas like Thankane are ecologically suitable for producing cowpeas, hence our ministry personnel is promoting production of this crop by conducting demonstrations to assist them to improve production,” he said.

Jwaneng/Mabutsane MP, Mr Mephato Reatile had asked for an  update on the strategies in place to promote sustainable agriculture and food security in rural areas of Thankane, Mahotshwane, Kanaku and Itholoke.

Mr Reatile also wanted to establish why the ministry encouraged the use of indigenous agricultural knowledge and practices to enhance agricultural production in those rural communities. ENDS