Botswana adopts infotech for enhanced agriculture
Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday June 21, 2022 06:00
Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) Neo Chengeta revealed the effort on Thursday during the unveiling of the new Woolworths store at Galo Mall in Francistown.
Digital technologies, Chengeta said, have the potential to provide farmers with information and the ability to meet challenges and seize growth opportunities.
Said Chengeta: "Government is also developing an end-to-end agricultural service digital platform called Botswana Agricultural Information Management System (BAIMS) which aims to improve productivity in the agricultural sector and enhance access to markets of agricultural products through its virtual market package. "To date, MoA in partnership with the private sector has developed a software application called AGRIMA (agriculture marketing) whose main purpose is to create a virtual marketing platform for all our farmers.
I believe once it is launched, you will also utilise it to link with local farmers, especially small farmers who might only have this platform as their only window to big retailers like yourselves.”
Asked by The Monitor on the sidelines of the event when AGRIMA will be launched, Chengeta said that the application could be in use now but was returned to a local software developer who invented it to include the component of small stock farming.
“In the beginning, the software was exclusively designed to be used in horticulture it has since been returned to the developer to include small stock production,” Chengeta said.
She added that the software will be accessed for free and will benefit farmers, especially small-scale farmers who don’t have funds to include information technology in their production.
Chengeta also stated that MoA intends to launch AGRIMA as soon as its developer avails it to the ministry.
The inclusion of small stock production in the application is obviously in line with President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s zeal to improve the sector in Botswana.
Masisi continues to traverse the country encouraging farmers to venture into small stock production so that they could meet the demands of the lucrative European and Asian markets.
Jan Erasmus, chairperson of Tonota, Tutume, Masunga Farmers Association (TOTUMA) said the move by MoA is a welcome development.
“Yesterday, we had a meeting about the issue of using digital technology in our sector and to see how we can advise the government in this regard. These days, everything in the world revolves around information technology. As such, we should also move along the wheels of change and encompass digital technology in our farming production. Farming is getting scientific and more technological in this era. This is a welcome development,” an ecstatic Erasmus said.
Botswana will be following the footsteps of developed and some countries in Africa that have digitized agriculture for food self-sufficiency and increased benefits to farmers and other stakeholders across the agricultural value chain.