Comparisons with the trends over the same period are difficult to make as data for two months in 2021 is missing.
However, numbers made available this week by Statistics Botswana indicate that from a figure of P871.4 million in May, the country’s food import bill ballooned to P2.3 billion in June.
The escalation in June was mainly due to higher imports of sugars and sugar confectionary which rose to P1.1 billion from P40.5 million in May. Statistics Botswana researchers did not provide details for the increase. Food imports in July slowed down to P938.5 million, which while lower than June, was still one of the highest monthly figures in 2022.
The stats agency’s figures indicate that throughout the year, items such as cereals, which include maize, rice, sorghum, and others, as well as beverages, spirits and vinegar have topped the monthly food import bill.
Analysts believe that while the higher food import bill this year has been largely driven by inflation, it also reflects the urgent need for import substitution in agriculture and related products. The figure also indicates that while the ban on the importation of certain vegetables government imposed in January has lowered import values for these commodities, the overall food import bill has largely been unaffected.
While the values of vegetables imported monthly have dropped by as much as 50% in some months, the values of processed vegetables such as canned items have continued at levels seen before the ban.
