Botswana imposes restrictions on orange imports
In a correspondence released on Saturday, the Ministry of Agriculture said that restrictions on the importation of oranges includes all types of sweet oranges (navels, valencia, naartjies and mineola).
“This new development is necessitated by the increased local production of other sweet oranges namely naartjies and mineola,” reads the statement.
The correspondence further explained that the restrictions therefore help the local producers to enter the market.
For many years, Botswana has been largely dependent on her southern neighbour, South Africa, for all types of fruits including oranges.
Botswana spends over 23.7 million U. S. dollars per annum importing 34,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables to supplement the 41,000 tonnes produced locally. However, the development will be described as a move in the right direction as the southern African nation continues cut the import bill.
Estimated local production of oranges currently stands at 5,691 tons of ordinary oranges, 56 tons of Mineola and 45.5 tons of naartjies, reads the press release.
“Local farmers are reporting low volumes of sale despite the good quality of their oranges due to influx of imports,” said the ministry.
It is said the Botswana Horticulture Market has to date discarded 342 bags of the 452 bags of soft oranges that were supplied by local farmers indicating low sales.
Source: coastweek.com