Dow, who was responding to the SONA in Parliament on Wednesday, said MPs and ministers are the only ones who are going to buy the semen. The semen issue stirred controversy last month when it was revealed that Masisi and his elite entourage, including ministers and senior officials, will have the exclusive opportunity to buy bull semen at the Ramatlabama. Masisi later clarified that indeed he had forced ministers to purchase the bull semen and that defiant ministers could face consequences, potentially losing their positions. Dow said Batswana will not buy the semen and as a result ministers will this time around be forced to sell semen on the side of the road. She said it is very clear that there is no much interest in buying semen because people do not have cattle. Dow, who also revealed that she has joined Botswana Congress Party (BCP), said people should not be emotional when it comes to the national herd issue and let their minds be clouded. “Yes we have an emotional attachment to cattle but as a business enterprise, people have not been buying the semen that was already there before the government even bought semen from France and America,” she said.
Dow said increasing the existing semen by buying additional from other countries will not encourage or compel Batswana to buy bull semen. She also said people no longer rear cattle like their forefathers used to. Dow pointed out that it is never easy to set priorities but when one rationally and reasonably looks at the purchase of the Texas bulls, it was costly because the herd needs feed, security, medical attention and many others. She said she does not understand which section of the society Masisi is trying to uplift by buying bulls. Dow indicated that subsistence farming over the years has become so expensive, therefore the Masisi bulls are not going to benefit anyone. She said if she were in Masisi’s position, she would not have bought the elite cattle breed together with the semen. Dow said Masisi and his government talk about the semen purchase as if it is a new thing. “When you have national priorities, you ask yourself what will move the deal. Semen has been sold along the A1 Dibete road for a very long time; it just that it is underutilised. Private farmers buy semen from outside so it is not a new thing. This semen and making a big case out of it by bossing, forcing and encouraging ministers to buy it as if it is a viable project is just laughable,” she expressed.
She said the Texas cattle purchase and semen should not have been a priority at all. In spite of Dow’s sentiments about the bulls semen, Masisi revealed during the SONA that out of the 2, 250 straws semen bought, 1, 100 have been bought by farmers in the 2022/23 financial year. Masisi also said government is making strides towards improving the local production of milk and beef through alternative breeding systems such as artificial insemination. “These breeding systems are availed to Batswana at subsidised prices to ensure inclusiveness and high uptake. For the financial year 2022/23, a total of 1, 750 dairy cattle female sexed semen has been purchased and 1,000 of them have been sold to dairy farmers. The remaining 750 female sexed semen are yet to be sold. Additionally, CEDA has developed a new Artificial Insemination (AI) product for funding,” Masisi announced.
In respect of conventional semen, Masisi revealed that 500 straws were purchased, out of which 100 have already been sold to dairy farmers. He said in the current financial year, 162 breeding live beef cattle were imported, out of which 141 were bulls and 21 heifers. “These were bought to further improve the country’s genetic quality and ultimately increase national herd. A total of 2, 401 Brown Swiss, Red Holstein and Holstein breeds sexed semen were purchased in the 2023/24 financial year in Switzerland and Germany. Government is elevating Botswana to the pinnacle of prosperity and unlocking the boundless potential of its people in the livestock sector,” Masisi highlighted.
Masisi’s SONA announcement comes not long after the government disclosed that the country awaits the arrival of 4, 000 straws of bulls semen from Australia. Late last month, the Minister of Agriculture, Fidelis Molao, told the media that government opted to purchase 4, 000 straws of semen of Droughtmaster and Wagyu cattle. Instead of buying live cattle like it did with Texas breeds, the government decided to buy semen which is less costly in terms of transportation. Masisi on Monday also indicated that they will upgrade the Ramatlabama Artificial Insemination lab to include small stock semen and embryo production by 2024/25. Speaking of artificial insemination centres, Masisi also disclosed that government will develop six new AI centres across the country by September 2024. With the focus lately on Ramatlabama where elite Texas cattle breed are housed together with other semen straws, Masisi said the six new centres are Mahalapye Rural Training Centre, Impala, Setata in Boteti District, Nxaraga, Chobe and Kgalagadi South.
