16 April 2008
editorial
Battered by frequent fuel price hikes in the past few years, the Botswana economy could be headed for more turbulent times with the looming worldwide food shortages.
Unlike other countries, the Botswana situation is made worse by the fact that the country is a net importer of food, sourcing an alarming 90 percent of its food from outside, predominantly South Africa.
This means that if producer countries stop supplies to the international markets, we are doomed. Even our well-endowed neighbours will not help us because they have bigger populations to feed and will want to keep any surpluses as reserves. In a nutshell, we have very few but clear options, mainly in the long-term. We believe the looming crisis should cause a fresh push to make Botswana self-sufficient in food. We must ensure our food security and self-sufficiency by undergoing a major agrarian drive by means of irrigated and mechanised farming using intensive methods.
The land is there, the technology is available, and the rain - though often inadequate - is also there. What is lacking is the desire, the focus and the will to invest and improve the non-pastoral agricultural sector. Afterall, before mining and other sectors overtook it, agriculture was the mainstay of the Botswana economy.
This means that the foundation and capacity need only to be revived and cultivated for this sector to feed the nation from domestic production.
We know that a number of measures have already been put in place in that regard. But we also know that these efforts have not amounted to much, either because of poor implementation or lack of interest. Definitely more needs to be done. These are uncertain times and we should make sure we are self-sufficient in a vital need like food. Even if we cannot achieve self-sufficiency, we should drastically reduce our level of food imports from 90 percent.
It is an unflattering figure for a middle-income country with vast tracts of land. We urge the government to discard the tendency of acting on vital matters only when there is a crisis. The government should be proactive. It should pursue and implement its programmes with single-minded determination, tact and skill. Otherwise we will always be fire-fighting when we could have easily made sure no fires broke out in the first place. Is it any wonder that we failed to act to avert the power crisis when the warning was sounded more than a decade ago?
Today's Thought
Hunger does not breed reform; it breeds madness, and all the ugly distempers that make an ordered life impossible.
- Woodrow Wilson
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