Botswana's karakul renaissance - Ministry of Agriculture

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BOTSWANA SMALL MEDIUM AND MICRO ENTERPRISE GOOD FOR DIVERSIFICATION VP Mompati Merafhe Article: Theresa Mokgwathi Photos: Tshepiso Baipidile The Vice President Mompati Merafhe says the growth and prosperity of the Small Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) sector is becoming a milestone in economic diversification and sustainability in the face of mounting global economic challenges. Officially opening the SMME Conference and Fair in Gaborone recently, Vice President Merafhe said the need to diversify the country’s economy became clear with the occurrence of the recent global economic downturn and the resultant changes in the world markets. “It is no doubt that the SMME’s with their relatively low start-up costs and comparatively high aptitude for diverse economic activity, can contribute immensely to the growth of the economy. We as government therefore view SMMEs as the key contributors to the transformation of Botswana’s economy” said Merafhe. He however pointed out that the development of entrepreneurs and enterprises has faced challenges of accessing land, finance and markets. He also said that it is evident that SMMEs also lack market intelligence and suffer from capacity constraints. Merafhe said the entrepreneur being the basic resource for SMME sector development, has also succumbed to dependency as opposed to self reliance, noting that the kind of mindset has as a result undermined the capacity of the entrepreneur to be innovative and enterprising. The Vice President was pleased with that in the midst of the occurrence and impact of these impediments, the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) has established programmes and projects which offer solution oriented services targeting both SMME’s and buyers. Merafhe commended LEA’s efforts for bringing yet another conference and fair, to highlight the profile of SMMEs in their quest for increased local market share. He said that the conference and fair offers Botswana’s SMMEs an opportunity to showcase their products and service to the local procurement fraternity. He went on to say that the 2010 conference and fair is specifically aimed at improving SMME access to local markets by bringing together the various consumers that constitute the local procurement base within the public, private and SMMEs sector. He said that conference also offers the Botswana’s SMMEs an opportunity to interact with members of the small business community from various countries in the SADC region. An opportunity to also interact with the entire SMME development stakeholder network made up of financiers, enterprise support institutions, entrepreneurship development organizations as well as the general public. Merafhe said SMMEs contribute about 32% of employment in Botswana, both in the formal and informal sector, that it is vital government continues to support SMMEs to access the entire local procurement base. He told the entrepreneurs that the position that the government has taken is not a unique one in the sense that various governments have utilized public sector procurement to promote SMMEs’ access to local markets. He said in South Africa and United States of America focused their public sector procurement programme on minority and women owned businesses. Also in South Africa public sector procurement is being utilized as a vehicle to achieve specific socio economic objectives such as the promotion of targeted small and medium enterprises, enhanced job creation opportunities, skills and technology transfer. He further said that Botswana is doing likewise, as they have put in place preference schemes such as the Local Procurement Programme (LPP) to support local industries through public sector procurement. He on that note said that of late the programme has been extended to cover procurement of decorations, Landscaping, Arts and Crafts produced by citizens. Merafhe said that the government has recently approved an economic diversification drive initiative which is intended to utilize Botswana’s purchasing power to give impetus to the production of locally manufactured goods and services, adding that through the initiative the government is committed to enhance local production as well as reducing its huge import bill. Merafhe said that the private sector is also of great importance in the growth of the SMME sector, as it provides a responsive market base that can contribute to the establishment, survival and prosperity of SMMEs, through its diversity, distribution and agility. In addition the private sector offers development opportunities to SMME suppliers through more strategic procurement arrangements than those available in the public sector. The Ministry of Trade and Industry through LEA has pursued a ‘procurement with capacity building’ initiative named MTI kick start, where members of the private sector may adopt or link with an SMME for supply and development purposes. Further more Merafhe guaranteed that the private sector has taken heed of this call and confident that such linkages will increase and SMMEs will become more competitive. Merafhe encouraged the private sector to view this initiative as an opportunity worth pursuing as it can result in progressively efficient and profitable business operations. He also urged all SMMEs, as the primary beneficiaries of the initiative, to open up to positive change so that they can develop to become stellar enterprises worthy of admiration in their respective industries.
He said that growing SMMEs and ensuring that they are viable in the long term is one of the government’s key leverage points in its move to eradicate poverty. Further more he said government has identified poverty eradication and economic diversification as its flagship programmes and his office is charged with the responsibility of driving their implementation. He called upon all stakeholders to recognize the importance of continuity and collaborative action following initiatives which have the potential to support the SMMEs. Present at the fair were some entrepreneurs who deal in agricultural products. Small businesses such as Mocks Apiaries Investment and CJKK (PTY) LTD. Mocks Apiaries Investment sells honey and products made from honey, they are currently operating in Jwaneng. Serefete Ramantsima of Mocks Apiaries Investment said that their products are not yet in the market but very soon they will be providing local retail stores with their products. Choma Matale founder of CJKK (PTY) LTD said that his small business of making drinks from melon is currently operating from his home in Gabane. Matale said that he wants people to recognize melon for its different uses. He further said he buys melon from local producers’ country wide. Matale mentioned that LEA has been very supportive in assisting him with his small business BUFFER ZONE, DOUBLE CORDON FENCE A LONG TERM STRATEGY TO CONTROL FMD Article: Kediretswe Pule Photos: Pius Nkunda For tourists a buffalo is an important animal that could form part of a wildlife destination area one could dream of visiting, but for Ngamiland residents a buffalo is a carrier of a virus that causes Foot and Mouth disease (FMD). The residents would want them to be buffered off or removed completely from the Ngamiland area to prevent them from mingling with cattle. Because buffaloes are carriers of FMD the residents are worried that from time to time they mix with their animals and spread the FMD viruses. Whether construction of a buffer-zone and double cordon fence is enough to save the situation or not, is yet to be seen. But for now, government has decided to construct a buffer Zone between Ngamiland and Ghanzi district to prevent cattle from both site from mixing. The major part of this FMD free zone (Ghanzi District) export meat to lucrative Eupean Union (EU) market. If these areas are not safed from the spread of FMD disease the country would lose this market. In addition a double cordon fence will be built between the Okavango Delta wet-lands that harbour buffalos and Ngamiland to bar buffalos from mixing with cattle in the area. On that note government has decided to move people away from Kuke fence where the buffer zone will be constructed. About 4 farmer syndicates and 2 ranches in Ngamiland and 4 ranches on the Ghanzi district side will be moved to pave way for the construction buffer zone. A 2.4 metres Game proof fence will be constructed that covers a radius of 16 km length. The dimensions shows that the buffer zone will take 8 km radius from Ghanzi areas and 8 km from Ngamiland sides to form the 16 Km buffer zone. The buffer zone will stretch from the interjection of the Botwana/Namibia border on the West to Phefodiafoka. The buffer zone wil cost up to P16Million. As for the buffalo fences 2 fences of 1.4 metres will be erected 10 killometres apart to fence off the buffalo fence from Ngamiland district and restrict them in the Okavango delta wetlands. The buffalo fence will cover 300km in length by the time of writing the report a 196 Km of construction of the fences was covered. The buffalo fence costs will go up to P40 Million. To reinforce the control measures, an amount totaling P22 million will be used annually to perform vaccination campaigns in Ngamiland. Three vaccination campaigns will be performed three times annually instead of twice as it was previously to increase efficiency of the exercise
Page 1 and 2: Volume 40, No. 05 May 2010 “We Ca
Page 3: editor’s note VIVA MOA - ZONE 4A
Page 7 and 8: “We Can not Feed the Nation from
Page 9 and 10: Botswana’s karakul renaissance Ar
Page 11 and 12: DEMONSTRATE OF IMPROVED TECHNOLOGIE
Page 13 and 14: Horticulture projects in Boteti sho
Page 15 and 16: LIVESTOCK AND MEAT INDUSTRIES ACT P
Page 17 and 18: B otswana College of A griculture T
Page 19 and 20: GOVERNMENT TO VACCINATE FOR MANGE D

Botswana's karakul renaissance - Ministry of Agriculture

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