16 December 2023
Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) has exported over 162 tonnes of frozen boneless beef from Maun, Ngamiland and Batawana abattoirs to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Updating a council meeting recently, North West District Council chairperson, Itumeleng Kelebetseng said BMC had sent 582 943.70kg to green zones, 91 740.20kg to a factory shop and 38 885.70kg sent to Kasane while Batawana sent 124 117.42kg to Kasane and Ngamiland abattoir sent 1 672.30kg to Kasane.
Kelebetseng said carcass meal amounting to 51 000kg was also exported to Zimbabwe and only 6 000kg was sent to a pet food manufacturing factory in Mochudi. He also informed councillors that small stock off-take to the market had shown a steady increase above the set targets of 1 116 and 661 for goats and sheep respectively.
“Since our last gathering, 1 178 goats and 706 sheep were slaughtered, translating into a 19.35% and 6.8% increase respectively,” he said.
On poultry, he said there was a market for eggs as the school feeding programme provides farmers with the opportunity to grow their businesses as evidenced by the 135 farmers who had since June, supplied 625 973 eggs.
Kelebetseng also implored political leaders to support the new Temo Letlotlo programme which was launched in October.
“Registration for this newly crafted programme is ongoing at the respective extension areas, and all farmers are encouraged to come forth and seek assistance,” he said.
He also told the meeting that the Ministry of Agriculture had, through the implementation of an Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD), introduced the Horticulture Impact Accelerator Subsidy (IAS) fund. He said the IAS fund assisted with various horticultural production packages where Batswana needed to give a 50% contribution. However, he said in the North West district, the programme uptake was reportedly low as only two applications were approved during the reporting period.
Councillors also learnt that the recent launched Topline dip aimed to control bovine-dermatophilosis, a disease commonly known as Senkobo in the district was doing well as there had been no active cases and mortalities recorded since its launch in October.
“The dip is indeed a game changer and considered a great milestone towards the control of bont tick on the basis of its 90-day residual effect,” he noted.
Furthermore, he noted that 48 extension officers were trained on the use of topline dip prior to the launch to assist with the dipping of cattle in future. He said 6 044 cattle were dipped by farmers at Shorobe extension area while 1 410 cattle were also dipped with Topline at Maun West Extension area.
Councillors were told that vaccinations against Foot and Mouth Disease, Blackleg and Anthrax in cattle as well as rabies in dogs and cats had been completed. He said during this exercise, the Department of Veterinary Services had registered six cases of rabies; four canine-related and two from caprine species.
On other issues, Kelebetseng said the Maun Development Plan (2023-2043) had been completed and the draft plan had been recommended for approval to the minister by the Physical Planning Committee at its sitting on November 29.
“This is a long term spatial framework set to inform the development patterns or landscape of Maun with the aim of luring global investors as we implement the development proposals of Maun Green City,” he added.
He said he was happy that the planning process adopted a bottom-up approach where both the community and stakeholders were taken onboard through extensive consultations.
“This is a welcome development. The plan will indeed transform Maun from being a gateway to the Okavango Delta into a tourist destination of choice, both locally and internationally because it has endless possibilities of attracting potential investors for possible partnerships, joint ventures and public private partnership (PPP) initiatives with the objective of developing various value chain,” he added.
Thus, he implored all stakeholders, including the business community, to be part of the implementation of the plan.
Source: https://dailynews.gov.bw/news-detail/76987
