Prisoners to power large-scale farming
Tefo Pheage | Thursday November 3, 2016 16:02
The prisoners will receive as yet unspecified allowances in return for their work.
Mmegi has learnt that the move is influenced by the Zimbabwean Command Agriculture Scheme and Namibia Green Scheme agricultural projects, which are spearheaded by the inmates. Apparently a prisons’ taskforce was recently sent to benchmark in Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Known as the Food Security Strategy, the initiative is taking advantage of the large amounts of land the Botswana Prisons Service (BPS) has been given by government, to grow its own food and feed prisoners.
The initiative is also aimed at preparing inmates for their life after prison as it will help them earn income from their own ventures if they fail to get formal employment.
Some years ago, BPS inherited another farm in Mosu village which was later abandoned as it was not suitable for farming. Although officials declined to go on the record about the latest developments, Prison’s commissioner, Silas Motlalekgosi has previously said large-scale agriculture was a strategic imperative for the prison service.
“Feeding prisoners by its nature is very expensive and what we are saying is that we have land all over and government has been generous to give that to us,” he told a local publication earlier this year. “We are trying to ask for more resources to make proper farming in a commercial way and we will start by feeding ourselves then sell to the local communities.”
At the time, Motlalekgosi said prisoners will not be expected to simply work on the farms for free, but will receive an allowance for their labour, “which is the standard internationally”.
“During Christmas they will be able to send their children some money from their savings,” he said. Yesterday, Motlalekgosi failed to honour a promise to grant Mmegi an interview on the matter “at lunch time.”
Some expects close to the Food Security Strategy are however, pouring cold water on the initiative saying it has started on a wrong footing as the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security has reportedly not been involved.
“The prisons agricultural sector is not well-equipped to spearhead this project. They have been doing agriculture on a very small scale through gardens,” one insider said.
The planned projects have been mentioned in the National Development Plan 11 where it is projected that the move shall significantly stabilise the country’s food security.