|
|
Botswana: Debswana Donates to Agriculture
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
3 July 2008
Posted to the web 3 July 2008
Billy Chiepe
Bobonong
Signs that agriculture is gradually being recognised as the backbone of the country's economy were witnessed when Debswana donated P600,000 to the Ministry of Agriculture to sponsor agricultural shows across the country.
Orapa Mine Manager Sebetlela Sebetlela presented the cheque to the Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Shaw Kgathi at the Bobirwa agricultural show in Bobonong last Saturday.
When officially opening the show, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Peter Siele found the theme of the show "Technology Adoption Is The Key To Agricultural Adoption" appropriate since modern technology can help farmers determine exactly know how much they can make from a given size of land. "It is through such events that people can learn new and better ways of farming," Siele said.
Minister Siele also had good news for farmers as he announced that the Francistown abattoir was now open for the slaughter of Bobirwa cattle. "The Bobirwa region has always been prone to drought and diseases and there was an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) recently.
"Cattle will now be required to spend 20 days in quarantine before slaughter," he said. He also encouraged farmers to start preparing their exhibits well in advance for the national agricultural show in Gaborone in August. Although agriculture's contribution to the economy is much less than that of mining and tourism, Sebetlela said agriculture was of great importance as many people relied on it as a means of livelihood.
"It is therefore essential that everyone should ensure that agriculture improves. Although Botswana's economy is heavily reliant on diamonds, Debswana is committed to efforts towards the diversification of the economy as we are one and the same with Batswana," he said.
Sebetlela hoped that the P600,000 they issued last year and this year will motivate farmers to do better. Choppies also donated P25,000 for the hosting of the show. Kgathi presented a P50,000 cheque to the Bobirwa organizing committee for, among other things, the improvement of the showgrounds.
|
He urged farmers and the committees to make sure that the money is put to good use so that other companies can take heed from Debswana and also sponsor them. Kgathi thanked BaBirwa for working well with veterinary officers, government officers and with the police during the fight against FMD.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
