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The biggest mistake you can do is stopping ISPAAD. That will be a career ending decision for Agriculture in Botswana. There is nothing wrong with ISPAAD but there is everything wrong with its implementation, monitoring and it’s performance masument.
Please on your review consider the following.
1) ISPAAD must focus on small scale producers and the objective should be helping them to transform from just farmers to small land high yield farmers. We must set a target of how many bags a hactor should produce then thrive to have all ISSPAD beneficiaries reaching that in their 5th year of production. Then they must graduate. To middle scale farmers or large scale and be independent.
2) ISPAAD and LIMMID should be consolidated to take advantage of the integrated farm allocation. We must not see them stuck in 1966 land policy when the land policy was reviewed in 2016. Let Them be just small scale farmers fund.
3) The farmers fund should not be a top down instruction. Farmers should not be limited in what they will be helped with. Farmers themselves should do proposal on what development they want in their farms and a Board made up of people with brains should seat and evaluate those proposals. Or I say a task team. And if it’s in line with improvement of production both Arable, horticulture, small stock, beer keeping poultry or Beef. The concept is Intergrated Farmers Funding.
4) Increases the fund limit to a significant amount. Also consider to top up with a loan to farmers who demonstrate they can repay back from their products revenue.
5) Segment beneficiary of the fund. We have our didecated senior citizens who does not need anythings next in farmin but simple go baya Tema. Tswelela oba beele Tema as long as you monitor their results and insure some are helped to riter from go bay Tema if go setse goja tandabala ya bone hela. Then there is those in the middle or I say those who have already some productions and want to grow. Then there last group being those at the entry point. I will expand on the package of each segment next time
6) Introduce internship farming. As a said we have our worker holic senior citizens with their traditional knowledge of farming some are now doing Tema hela, it’s time to identify them and have a young upcoming farmer rented or borrowed 1 or 2 hactors on the same field and they combine their efforts. That way you improve the elder efforts with new ways of doing things from the young farmer at the same time helps the young farmer with experience and land.
7) The fund must assist in the following but not limited to them.
I) The current pluoghing money for the senior citizens mostly, but the funds must never be paid to the tractor owners but straight to the farmer who would show results of his farm. The idea of having Tractor owners running around pluoghing fields of people who never set their foot on them must stop. A farmer must pluogh, weed and call the field extations for inspection. Targets must be set. If the field is not taken care of automatically the farmer is out of the next season beneficiary list.
II) Water. Either small dams, riverbed reserves or borehole drilling. To avoid abuse this potion must be given out as a loan.
III) Electricity and even internet, just like the above it can be given out as loans
IV) Infrastructure, fencing, poultry houses, cattle kraals and other.
V) Machinary. That should include walk tractors, hand held planters, hand held dressers, Grass cutters, hammer millers, pallet producing machinery, packaging machinery, portable dairy Machinary. Sluaghter house Machinary.
By doing this sone you will have have all bo Mae, dinawa, merogo ya dinawa, koko ya setswana, madila, kudu ya lerotse, mashi, thapi, all you think of coming from those farms well packed and labeled directly into Woolworths and other retailers.
People always say this is not the right platform. I don’t agree with them. This is far better than Kgotla. You guys you have Secretaries more than two for each of you. If there is something catching your eyes they can copy it in a word documents and you read it later and take what is good and throw away waste out of it. This platform is years ahead of a Kgotla meeting we you speak and strategically some elders are pointed to comment and all of them stand up and become vote of tankers.
Mbaakanyi Lenyatso
