Drought-prone Botswana has developed a tool to promote the use of smart agriculture techniques to beat the challenges posed by climate change, APA learnt recently.
Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) Chief Executive, Shedden Masupe said the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Lessons Learnt manual aims to use climate-smart technologies to increase productivity and farmers’ resilience.
“The manual was developed to influence the national approach to programming CSA interventions that transcend any specific technology; introduce, promote and popularise CSA approaches and interventions. and well as to raise awareness among the stakeholders on the impact of Climate Change and the vulnerability of agriculture and food security,” Masupe told journalists at the launch of the manual in Gaborone.
Like many other southern African countries, Botswana is prone to regular drought episodes that have increased in frequency and severity over the past few years. He said the tool has already borne fruit in the test areas, with more small-scale farmers adopting the manual based on the experiences of their contemporaries.
The manual was jointly developed by BITRI, the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security and the United Nations Development Programme. BITRI was also the lead drafter of the Botswana Drought Management Strategy, the final draft of which will be used as the principal strategy to guide Botswana’s interventions regarding drought management.
Source: apanews.net
