Phikwe citrus project to meet harvest deadline

Chakalisa Dube | Monday August 7, 2023 06:00

This was confirmed by President Mokgweetsi Masisi when addressing a political rally in Tonota over the weekend. Previously, there have been concerns from various stakeholders that challenges posed by factors such as managing the impact of COVID-19 might negatively affect the project’s timelines.

“Next year January will mark the first harvest at the Selebi-Phikwe project,” said Masisi, who has visited the project several times since it was commissioned more than two years ago. “This is one project which will directly and indirectly create more jobs for Batswana once it has reached its capacity.

He added: “I am very hopeful that the plantation will timely reach the planned annual full production capacity of 70,000 tonnes per year during the set timelines so that the country could significantly benefit from exporting citrus fruits to the rest of the world.”

Almost 70% of the harvest from the farm will be exported. It will be exported to countries such as China, Japan, the United States of America, and Canada among others. The remaining percentage will be sold locally and to other countries in the African region. Masisi emphasised that the citrus project, which is entirely funded by the private sector, will meaningfully augment government’s efforts to create jobs for Batswana.

Once fully complete, the project will be one of the largest consolidated citrus developments in Southern Africa. It will provide a source of employment for up to 1,500 people (permanent and seasonal). In addition, it will provide indirect benefits to the local economy such as increased economic activity and food supply. The project currently employs around 228 workers.

Additionally, once complete the development, which is situated on a 1,500 hectare site, will house over 1,200 hectares of citrus fruit by 2025.

Meanwhile, Masisi also said Botswana is slowly reaping the benefits of a January 2022 importation ban imposed on key vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, beetroot, potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, garlic, and onions.

He said that because of the ban, the country has managed to scale up the production of some vegetables. As a result, he explained that Botswana will soon start exporting tomatoes because the country has started producing more than the required quantity. If the development comes to pass it will be the first time ever that the country has managed to export tomatoes.

The vegetable ban attracted much criticism from some stakeholders who felt that it could have been done in an incremental manner. During the initial stages of the ban, the country experienced shortages of vegetables such as tomatoes and potatoes, with an attendant surge in prices.

Both prices and availability have since generally stabilised.