Privatisation of Glen Valley, Dikabeya farms inches forward

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Sunday May 26, 2013 00:00

In a board decision announced last week, the PPADB approved the Ministry of Agriculture's request to dispose of the two farms via lease. Empowered by the approval, the ministry is expected to soon issue an Expression of Interest for private investors to take up the two leases.

According to the Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency (PEEPA), government decided to lease out the farms last year after realising that since their inception, the two properties were inefficient and costly to operate.

'Government established the two farms to reduce dependence on neighbouring countries for food supplies and whilst suitable technologies were identified and used, the Ministry of Agriculture was not satisfied with the two farms output,' PEEPA officials said recently in contextualising the privatisation process.

'PEEPA undertook a feasibility study and recommended that the farms be privatised through a leasing agreement where government retains land ownership.'

According to the privatisation agency, the agriculture ministry agreed with PEEPA's recommendations, leading to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last year to guide the process. 'The two parties agreed that in order to turn the two farms into viable commercial farms, the private sector should be allowed to operate, invest and train citizens,' the officials said.

Officials said the agency and the ministry had also agreed on the scope of the project, which includes review of the financial position, liabilities, human resource issues and risks associated with the farms. According to available information, successful bidders will be required to pay for electricity usage, with those at Dikabeya tapping water from Bonwakatlhako Dam, while those at Glen Valley will use a mixture of recycled water and potable supplies from the Water Utilities Corporation. The private investors will also not be allowed to build permanent structures on the farms, as government will retain full ownership of both.

Glen Valley Farm sits on 13-hectares of land on Gaborone's outskirts, with nine hectares used for olives, 0.5 hectares for butternuts and another 0.25 hectares for peppers and tomatoes. On the other hand, the eight-hectare Dikabeya is located 20 kilometres north of Palapye, with five hectares open field and one hectare for protected cultivation.