Veggie ban: Panda farmers ready to roll but...
Chakalisa Dube - Mompati Tlhankane | Monday February 28, 2022 06:00
PANDAMATENGA: The Local Enterprise Authority estimates that the production of the 16 crops currently banned from being imported into the country will have to rise by 116% to meet the national demand.
Farmers in the country’s prime commercial agriculture area, Pandamatenga are supremely confident that they can supply the shortfall and more than meet the country’s demands.
“Vegetable production in Pandamatenga has increased and for the last four years we have seen huge production of potatoes with about 120 hectares here,” says Pandamatenga Farmers Association chair, Ryan Neal.
Potatoes are one of three crops that are most critically unavailable in good quantity, quality and price in the country. In fact, potatoes, tomatoes and onions, account for 53% of the country’s annual horticultural import bill of about P100 million, supplied mainly by South Africa.
Currently, local production of potatoes accounts for 49% of national demand, while tomatoes account for 44% of national demand and onions 49%.
On January 1, government took a radical move to ban the import of vegetables, in a decision that was widely condemned by many. While horticultural import bans have taken place before, these have been restricted in duration and only occurred when local production was stable. The ban from January 1 will last at least two years before the next review and covers a wide range of vegetables.
Government has said local producers can supply the market and the ban is in line with citizen empowerment, greater food self-sufficiency, the reduction of the import bill and employment creation. However, the period since the import ban has been wracked by shortages and escalating prices of vegetables, with some concerns around quality of supply and related issues such as storage and logistics.
Pandamatenga is an expansive commercial and communal farming area, with planting activities taking place on over 40,000 hectares of land. The area was designated the hub of commercial farming in 1984 when government allocated over 25,000 hectares of land to commercial farmers to achieve food self-sufficiency.
The area has since attracted experienced South African, Zimbabwean and local commercial farmers, as well as capital investment into various crops, predominantly sweet sorghum, cowpeas, and sunflower.
Ryan told Mmegi that one of the major obstacles to Pandamatenga supplying the nation’s horticultural needs was the supply of reliable water, which would allow the development of irrigation systems into the farms and expand production.
For vegetable production to thrive particularly in the Pandamatenga area, irrigation is necessary because of the uneven distribution of rainfall throughout the year, especially during critical crop growth periods. Most horticultural crops require irrigation to minimise plant stress. Proper timing of water applications during appropriate periods can increase the yield and quality of most horticultural crops and that is exactly what Botswana needs following the ban. According to Neal, farmers’ main challenge in boosting production is the lack of irrigation.
“Leafy vegetables require a lot of water.
“Because of the climate in Pandamatenga, for one to go into horticulture it would require a strong irrigation system.
“Erecting an irrigation system for commercial horticulture would be very expensive and going into horticulture in the Pandamatenga area is cost-prohibitive,” he said. Farmers’ hopes lie with the water transfer scheme under the long-awaited Zambezi Integrated Agro-Commercial Development Project. The scheme involves tapping about 500 million cubic litres of water each year from the Chobe River and building a pipeline running through Pandamatenga and other areas to the east, north and eventually to the south.
The Zambezi Integrated Agro-Commercial Development Project is one of government’s priorities and is in a select group of projects shortlisted to be the first major Private-Public Partnerships.
The Chobe Land Board recently set aside an additional 30,000 hectares of land for the expansion of commercial farms in the Pandamatenga area, under the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) initiative.
Chobe Land Board chairperson Johane Chenjekwa told Mmegi the water transfer scheme is also being pursued as part of boosting production in the Pandamatenga area.
“We couldn’t let the water pass by Panda given the scale of farming activities happening there.
“As the Land Board, we had to identify land where the project could take off.
“We went to a concession called CH8 and the government proposed through the Ministry of Agriculture that this concession could be divided into half with agriculture given the priority,” he revealed.
As the water draws nearer to Panda, there are divisions among farmers. According to the government’s plans, the water under the Zambezi Integrated Agro-Commercial Development Project is earmarked for farms listed under the 30,000 hectare Special Economic Zone, which comprise investors who have signed up with the Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA).
After having access to water, SEZ licensed farmers operating in Pandamatenga will benefit from financial incentives that include five percent reduced corporate tax, zero-rated VAT on raw materials, duty-free imports of specialist plant machinery, favourable transfer duty and full repatriation of capital. They will also enjoy fast-tracked land allocations that include long-term renewable leases of 99 years.
Commercial farmers in Pandamatenga have used various platforms with government to express their frustration at being excluded from benefiting from the Agro-Zambezi water project and other initiatives that will be offered by SEZ. Last year, they even wrote a letter of complaint to the Office of the President.
Neal says existing Pandamatenga farms should have also been prioritised for the multimillion-pula Chobe water pipeline project.
“If existing Pandamatenga commercial farms were made part of the project, the move would have ensured that enough water is available to supply us with enough water to go into horticulture,” he said.
The argument by SEZA is that commercial farmers in Pandamatenga enjoy other benefits like support in obtaining visas, work and residence permits, development of cluster networks and 24-hour business support services.
“We have also established infrastructure developments such as storm water drainage, road networks and animal proof fences that all farmers continue to enjoy,” said the acting Director of Policy, Jayson Sechele previously.
By Thursday, SEZA officials had not responded to questions sent more than two weeks ago requesting more details on the Pandamatenga SEZ.
The exclusion from the SEZ’s benefits speaks directly to farmers’ other concerns around expanding their horticultural production. Neil says besides access to water, expanding horticultural production would also involve the costs of associated equipment such as refrigeration as well as ventilation facilities to manage and store the easily perishable vegetable products.
Still, commercial farmers in Pandamatenga generally believe the move to restrict the imports of vegetables was necessary to allow the country to upscale production.
“I think it was an issue of communication.
“Had communication been done earlier (announcing the ban) the vegetable shortage would have been reasonable,” Neal said, adding that farmers in the Tuli Block area are also capable of producing a reasonable quantity of vegetables that can fairly meet the country’s supply.