Veggie ban makes up for huge import bill

Mompati Tlhankane | Monday November 21, 2022 06:00

Delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) this week, Masisi highlighted that they need to make up for their huge vegetable, fruit import bill and mature to export to other countries.

The ban had targeted 16 vegetables such as onions, butternut, tomatoes, watermelons, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and ginger but three crops, in particular, potatoes, tomatoes and onions accounted for 53% of the horticultural import bill.

The last food import bill from Statistics Botswana before the ban came into effect shows that vegetables and certain roots and tubers contributed 2.7% of the national food import bill. The bill at the time stood at about P26.6 million and did not include the P69.1 million spent on preparing vegetables, fruits, nuts or other plant parts.

The latest August 2022 bill, which was released on November 3, 2022, shows that Botswana saved millions after the introduction of the ban but still lost P78 million on preparing vegetables, fruits, nuts or other parts of plants.

The veggie import is on certain vegetables therefore the remaining ones have now cost Botswana P15.1 million that is about 1.5% of the total food import bill, which stands at P1billion as of August 2022. Even though the veggie reduced the national food import bill, Botswana still loses a lot of money on importing fruits. The August bill further shows that about P31.8 million has been spent on importing fruit and nuts, edible; peel of citrus fruit or melons.

To this end, Masisi in the SONA highlighted that Botswana spent too many years of post-colonial history of importing. “It is about time we too enjoyed the benefits of exporting and earning hard foreign currency through vegetable and fruit production. I urge Batswana across the length and breadth of the country to take advantage of the new market opportunities for local produce and expand their production and value-addition,” he emphasised. Masisi also pointed out that the introduction of the import restrictions on some vegetables and fruits to stimulate local production provided a huge market for Batswana. The ban was intended to support local farmers, increase national food security by encouraging local vegetable production and improve horticulture competitiveness. It was also meant to alleviate climate change effects, develop the agriculture value chain and foster citizen empowerment.

While the veggie bill has been reduced, Masisi admitted that he was aware that consumers still continue to encounter challenges of under-supply and increased costs of some fruits and vegetables. He said there are at times challenges of oversupply which, while beneficial to the customer in terms of price, negatively affect the producer. Masisi added that he believes that as the market matures, this will stabilise. He also implored wholesalers, retailers and consumers to ensure compliance with the new government policies to support and grow farmers countrywide. Masisi in August revealed that Botswana was able to meet over 70% of the national demand for potatoes and tomatoes. “I stand here today proud to report back to you that our implementation is bearing fruit. We have made strides in the right direction and managed to achieve several projects.

The limiting of importation of certain agricultural products is intended to encourage you all to go into agricultural production in a significant way. It is extremely encouraging to note that as of August 10, 2022, Botswana is now able to meet over 70% of the national demand for potatoes and tomatoes,” Masisi told the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) members at their congress at Tsabong in August.

Before that there were ups and downs in the horticulture industry. In February, a month into the ban, the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) estimated that local production of the 16 crops restricted from being imported into the country, will have to be more than doubled to meet local demand. At the time, local production of potatoes accounted for 49% of national demand, while tomatoes accounted for 44% of national demand and onions 49%. Back then, commercial farmers in Pandamatenga told this publication that they had enough capacity, infrastructure and expertise to more than meet the nation’s demand for horticultural products.

However, they said 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. Shortly after the ban, local consumers complained of shortages of the three vegetables and others with experts saying the restrictions had exposed the supply chain weaknesses between local producers and major retailers.

Apart from shortages, the ban escalated prices and worsened consumers’ predicament. Consumers also complained that where local production is available, the quality was not always up to standard. The supply chain weaknesses meant the unreliable availability of key vegetables such as tomatoes, onions and potatoes. The high vegetable prices forced farmers to channel more resources to farming the banned vegetables therefore increasing output to fill the supply gap induced by the import ban.

This then led to an increase in supply and the subsequent fall in prices of most of the banned vegetables. Nevertheless, complaints of poor quality and shortages are still being raised by consumers as Masisi had alluded.

In April, the ban on importation of these vegetable varieties into the country from South Africa and other veggie-export countries started keeping the police on their toes with smugglers eluding border authorities to bring vegetables into the country.

Agriculture Minister Fidelis Molao had indicated earlier that the vegetable import ban is not only ‘here to stay’ but will possibly be expanded to include more produce in the next two years. Speaking of expanding the ban to more produce, this is likely to include some fruits which are currently contributing 3.8% to the national food import bill. In his SONA remarks, Masisi added that for the first time Botswana is expected to generate export revenue from high quality fruits to premium markets. He said a large scale citrus project in Selebi-Phikwe started in 2020 as a result of foreign direct investment and to date a total 700,000 fruit trees have been planted and additional land is being prepared to accommodate a further 300,000 trees.