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Botswana: Horticultural farmers decry lack of good market
Mr Jan Willemse of Talana Farm in the Tuli Block, blames inadequate local market for horticulture failure.
He said if horticultural farmers had more control of the market as opposed to the current situation where the market is controlled by the traders, then farmers would plant more as there is potential for that.
Mr Willemse said input costs, which many local farmers complain about would not be a problem if farmers could sell their produce for what they are worth and if there was good market.
He said the current situation is that traders buy poor quality produce from South Africa and sell it here at high costs yet Batswana farmers are able to produce good quality produce which the traders want to buy at low prices.
He said the status quo is that traders control the market to the point that farmers either take what traders put on the table or risk not selling at all.
The Botswana Horticultural Council chairperson, Ms Boshoma Mpulubusi shared Mr Willemse' sentiments saying local horticultural farmers operate at the mercy of traders since they are the ones who dictate prices.
She said there is a Producers and Traders Committee whose mandate is to set prices for horticultural produce but what happens is that traders never want to buy at the set prices.
Ms Mpulubusi said another problem faced by producers is that when the borders close for produce that can be sourced locally, traders stockpile which leaves producers with no choice but to sell at a cheaper price.
Contrary to the belief that local farmers are not able to meet local demand, Ms Mpulubusi said they can produce such vegetables as butternuts, beet roots, tomatoes and most of the leafy vegetables throughout the year.
Ms Mpulubusi called upon government to intervene and protect local producers against unscrupulous traders.
She however said the scrapping of the 10 per cent VAT for importing inputs was a notable effort from the government to assist local producers.
She said if all these problems can be addressed then the problem of shortage of vegetables would be a thing of the past, adding that as farmers, they are trying to devise a cropping plan which will determine demand per region.
Source: gov.bw
Mr Jan Willemse of Talana Farm in the Tuli Block, blames inadequate local market for horticulture failure.
He said if horticultural farmers had more control of the market as opposed to the current situation where the market is controlled by the traders, then farmers would plant more as there is potential for that.
Mr Willemse said input costs, which many local farmers complain about would not be a problem if farmers could sell their produce for what they are worth and if there was good market.
He said the current situation is that traders buy poor quality produce from South Africa and sell it here at high costs yet Batswana farmers are able to produce good quality produce which the traders want to buy at low prices.
He said the status quo is that traders control the market to the point that farmers either take what traders put on the table or risk not selling at all.
The Botswana Horticultural Council chairperson, Ms Boshoma Mpulubusi shared Mr Willemse' sentiments saying local horticultural farmers operate at the mercy of traders since they are the ones who dictate prices.
She said there is a Producers and Traders Committee whose mandate is to set prices for horticultural produce but what happens is that traders never want to buy at the set prices.
Ms Mpulubusi said another problem faced by producers is that when the borders close for produce that can be sourced locally, traders stockpile which leaves producers with no choice but to sell at a cheaper price.
Contrary to the belief that local farmers are not able to meet local demand, Ms Mpulubusi said they can produce such vegetables as butternuts, beet roots, tomatoes and most of the leafy vegetables throughout the year.
Ms Mpulubusi called upon government to intervene and protect local producers against unscrupulous traders.
She however said the scrapping of the 10 per cent VAT for importing inputs was a notable effort from the government to assist local producers.
She said if all these problems can be addressed then the problem of shortage of vegetables would be a thing of the past, adding that as farmers, they are trying to devise a cropping plan which will determine demand per region.
Source: gov.bw
Publication date: 3/17/2009
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I think the problem is that peple dont support others
Olebile Bogatsu, Gaborone, Botswana
(email) - 9/3/2010 7:19:57 PM
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