Agric production on downward trajectory
Staff Writer | Thursday July 30, 2015 18:00
The declining performance of the sector is largely attributed to the unfavourable climatic conditions and endemic animal diseases, in particular the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).
The results of the 2013 survey, produced by Statistics Botswana (SB) indicate that livestock population generally has decreased between 2012 and 2013 agricultural seasons.
Cattle population dropped from 2.2 million to 2.1 million, goats from 1.6 million to 1.5 million, while sheep reduced from 293,966 to 274,357.
“Productivity in the livestock sub-sector also regressed during the period under review. The cattle birth rate decreased from 53 percent in 2012 to 50.6 percent in 2013, while the mortality rate increased from 9.1 percent to 12.3 percent,” read the report in part. However, the report stated that the off-take rate, which points to percentage of animals slaughtered in a year, improved slightly from 7.4 percent to 8.4 percent.
Performance of the small stock showed a slight improvement.
Goats registered a slight increase in the birth rate from 41.4 percent in 2012 to 42.2 percent in 2013, but mortality rate increased from 21.9 percent to 22.8 percent.
The off-take rate increased from 6.1 to 7.1 percent. Sheep experienced an increase in birth rate from 33.1 percent to 36 percent. The mortality rate marginally increased from 14.6 to 15 percent and off-take from 4.9 to 5 percent between 2012 and 2013.
A similar declining trend was experienced in the crop sector with sorghum production falling steeply from 24,021 metric tonnes to 10,231 metric tonnes, maize from 7,677 metric tonnes to 3,844 metric tonnes, while millet dropped from 1,959 metric tonnes to 1,391 metric tonnes between 2012 and 2013.
Likewise, production of groundnuts fell from 200 metric tonnes to 112 metric tonnes, sunflower production from 6,000 metric tonnes to 2,021 metric tonnes. Only beans/pulses showed exceptional performance by registering an increase in production from 2,285 metric tonnes in 2012 to 3,655 metric tonnes in 2013.
Agriculture is regarded as an important sector in the economy of Botswana because it provides food, income and employment for the majority of the rural dwellers.
It also has potential for growth and creation of employment opportunities particularly for the unskilled and semi-skilled people. However, the performance of the sector has been sub-optimal due to recurring drought and endemic animal diseases such as FMD.
Along with water and electricity, the agricultural sector was the only economic segment to record negative growth in the first quarter of the year, GDP figures released by Statistics Botswana have shown.
In the first three months of the year, the agricultural sector recorded a decrease of 0.7 percent.
That notwithstanding, agriculture still remains a viable option for poverty reduction and employment creation, as it is labour intensive.