Comment: Agric sector needs an overhaul not renaming of initiatives

President Mokgweetsi Masisi has announced that a new programme which aims to promote and improve productivity in the agricultural sector will come into effect in the next financial year ( 2023/ 2024). The new programme, dubbed ‘ Temo Letlotlo’, will replace ISPAAD.

It would be remiss of ourselves if we were to endorse this as a welcome development to bolster the struggling sector. We need to see and appreciate it first. What we want from government, is a clear and concise plan on how the agriculture sector will be lifted from its current tatters to a much better position, for which it was renowned during the pre- colonial period and early years of independence.

Changing or renaming initiatives is not a remedy. As a matter of fact, agriculture was the biggest contributor to the national economy in the 1960s, but 56 years later, the sector contributes less than 5 percent to Gross Domestic Product ( GDP). There are many reasons why the sector is struggling and government is partly to blame. First and foremost, government has over the years, introduced several agricultural programmes which later closed for various reasons best known to government. What is startling is that, almost every 5 years, government comes up with a new scheme and later closes it without informing the citizens what really caused it to shut down.

The public needs to be told in clear terms, why such schemes are being closed and new ones introduced. This will enable citizens to better implement the new ones that come along.

Take for example, ISPAAD. Government announced a few years ago that, the scheme was being evaluated. However, after it was evaluated, government never gave citizens any feedback. Now, a new Temo Letlotlo is in force.

This is confusing to say the least. The only changes we see clearly in these initiatives, are their names, nothing more, nothing less. Secondly, we have a strong conviction that over the years, government has been throwing money at agricultural problems.

Every year, billions of Pula are being spent on the sector- but the results have not been forthcoming. We are convinced that government is dicing with money on this sector, because more and more farmers are crying that even after they have had their farms ploughed, they don’t get adequate assistance from agricultural extension officers and crop protection officers. The administration will be quick to dish out funds, but will never help thereafter. The President cannot, year in and year out, brag about the size of land/ hectares ploughed. The least he can talk about is the yields produced as a result of government intervention. Thirdly, government, also has various agencies such as CEDA, NDB and BDC which have been funding the sector. Every day we see ‘ In the matter between’ on newspapers, launched by these institutions against their clients for default payments. We have a strong opinion that, a fragile sector like this one, which can become our biggest money spinner, needs to be protected. Is it possible that government can instruct these financiers not to treat those clients with the same gloves as other sectors like manufacturing for instance? We strongly believe rates advanced to the sector must be lowered given the circumstances it finds itself in. That surely does not equate to throwing money at problems as government is currently doing. NDB, is not purely an agricultural bank as government has often claimed. It caters for other sectors. Maybe an entirely new bank for the sector is what we need.

The sector is also in dire straits because of poor coordination. Right now, the President, not any government department is busy donating bulls and rams across the country to help boost livestock production. We wonder if this is an electoral campaign or a noble initiative. We don’t even know who is funding it and how the beneficiaries of these bulls are selected and what is expected from them.

The list of the sector’s challenges are endless. Government has lost direction on what should be done to save this sector.