Botswana president Mokgweetsi Masisi, this week said his government will make an effort to increase the production of small livestock as it has an enhanced sales margin.
Masisi said this in response to an Instagram post by Batlang Serema, Botswana’s high commissioner to Namibia.
Serema posted that he had come from an auction of Namibia Livestock Auctioneers Limited where two phelehu rams were sold for N$75 000.
“My aim is to make Botswana the land of small stock. We must increase our small-stock herd,” the president said.
He said Botswana would be better positioned to not only meet local demand, but to also export to bigger markets such as Europe and Asia.
“Namibia is already in full force and wants us to catch up with them. I am making my personal contribution through the donation of bucks and rams to farmers that have seriously taken up small-stock production in the 57 constituencies,” he said.
Late last month, Masisi donated a buck and a ram to two young small-stock farmers at Chadibe cluster farms on the outskirts of Francistown, where he announced that Botswana had secured markets for sheep and goat meat in Saudi Arabia and Norway, an international news agency reported.
Namibia is, however, not resting on its laurels – in May this year the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform also donated breeding stock, which included 420 goats, to 20 vulnerable communities in Khomas to generate income and ensure food security.
The initiative falls under the Small-stock Development and Distribution to Communal Areas (SSDDCA) programme, and is being rolled out to communal areas in all 14 regions.
Beneficiaries each receive stock and are given up to five years to return the initial stock, which will then be handed over to other community members to follow suit.
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