We need a clear policy on state interventions

| Tuesday December 3, 2013 17:17

he government has finally resorted to intervene in cushioning the effects of the ongoing drought by subsidising livestock feeds by 50 percent until the situation improves. The move comes after a motion by the MP for Boteti North Slumber Tsogwane a fortnight ago. The motion received overwhelming support from MPs. There is no doubt that the drought has left many farmers, particularly small scale cattle owners impoverished, as they cannot afford expensive feeds that are mostly imported.

For the past three years, the rainfall amount has dropped significantly, impacting badly on the grazing land and the availability of water in our dams. For instance, some rivers and dams that have not dried in decades are now empty and many of our farmers cannot afford to drill for underground water. This situation does not only affect the population of our cattle, but has the potential to rekindle tribal conflict.

With the recent rains, we hope that the situation will improve, but it is too early to celebrate. We therefore call on farmers to take advantage of the government subsidy and save the cattle population. It is our hope that government will be on the look-out for unscrupulous characters who may take advantage of the situation and purchase the stock feeds in bulk only to resell at an inflated price.

We hope that in future, the government will not take too long to intervene like it did in this case. When the global financial meltdown hit hard on small economies, such as ours, our government intervened and saved the mining sector and jobs. The same happened with the BCL a few years earlier when copper prices went down.

It is still not clear why this time the government took so long to save the small cattle farmer who has for more than five decades contributed to the growth of the country's economy through rearing cattle for beef export.

We take this opportunity to thank Tsogwane for coming up with the motion and opening the eyes of his colleagues in both cabinet and Parliament to appreciate the threat that the drought posed to the cattle population in Botswana. It is important to prepare for such occurrences in future so that in the absence of the likes of Rre Tsogwane, the government would know when to intervene. The preparedness can come in the form of a policy, with clear guidelines on when to step in.

Today's thought

'There's no harm in hoping for the best as long as you're prepared for the worst.'

- Stephen King, Different Seasons

The move comes after a motion by the MP for Boteti North Slumber Tsogwane a fortnight ago. The motion received overwhelming support from MPs. There is no doubt that the drought has left many farmers, particularly small scale cattle owners impoverished, as they cannot afford expensive feeds that are mostly imported. For the past three years, the rainfall amount has dropped significantly, impacting badly on the grazing land and the availability of water in our dams. For instance, some rivers and dams that have not dried in decades are now empty and many of our farmers cannot afford to drill for underground water. This situation does not only affect the population of our cattle, but has the potential to rekindle tribal conflict. With the recent rains, we hope that the situation will improve, but it is too early to celebrate. We therefore call on farmers to take advantage of the government subsidy and save the cattle population. It is our hope that government will be on the look-out for unscrupulous characters who may take advantage of the situation and purchase the stock feeds in bulk only to resell at an inflated price. We hope that in future, the government will not take too long to intervene like it did in this case. When the global financial meltdown hit hard on small economies, such as ours, our government intervened and saved the mining sector and jobs. The same happened with the BCL a few years earlier when copper prices went down. It is still not clear why this time the government took so long to save the small cattle farmer who has for more than five decades contributed to the growth of the country's economy through rearing cattle for beef export. We take this opportunity to thank Tsogwane for coming up with the motion and opening the eyes of his colleagues in both cabinet and Parliament to appreciate the threat that the drought posed to the cattle population in Botswana. It is important to prepare for such occurrences in future so that in the absence of the likes of Rre Tsogwane, the government would know when to intervene. The preparedness can come in the form of a policy, with clear guidelines on when to step in.

Today's thought

'There's no harm in hoping for the best as long as you're prepared for the worst.' - Stephen King, Different Seasons