Etcetera II

SANDY GRANT | Monday August 2, 2010 00:00

In the week since I commented on the very disappointing Molepolole Show in last week's Monitor, it was decided by the Ministry that, with the outbreak of the Rift Valley Disease, it had felt it necessary to cancel this year's Gaborone Agricultural Show. Even though livestock are bound to be the centrepiece of such Shows and organising one without them would inevitably deprive it of a major attraction, the Ministry's decision remains surprising.

A feature of the last couple of years has been the priority given by the government, and other agencies such as the Brewery, to agriculture and to youth, both of which have been handsomely funded. When an Agricultural Show is deprived of one of its major components, as is now the case, an opportunity is immediately created for others to fill that gap and to promote their wares without, for once, being overshadowed by more exotic products and producers.

Indeed, the absence of livestock has offered the Ministry a rare chance of demonstrating the wide spectrum of agricultural activity that is today being supported by the government. Why then would it chose to deny itself the opportunity of showcasing what it has achieved and with what kinds of innovative, exciting programmes it is now involved? Surely, too, this was the ideal opportunity for the young to show how their financial support has enabled them to secure their first steps in agriculture?

Those support programmes have been heavily publicised - but there was no evidence of anything of the kind in Molepolole the other day, and I would be astonished if the other Show proves to be any different. Why then, would the Ministry opt out of its major opportunity in Gaborone, the one Show it organises, to show everyone how much it is doing in all those many areas of its involvement, other than livestock? A new agricultural season will soon be on us and people will want to know about the availability of seed and the kinds of support programmes for which they can apply.

In addition, a Gaborone Show should provide an opportunity for the Ministry to interact with the farming community, to provide advice, listen to criticism and not least, to engage with the commercial media.

But clearly it doesn't see matters in this way, perhaps because it sees its over-riding commitment as being to livestock and livestock producers.  But the priority need, as we are told over and again, is to diversify the economy and agriculture and to increase food production.  But now, with the Rift Valley Disease, the Ministry is convinced that  in no circumstances can the Gaborone Show now be held and that all the costly preparations it has made should be halted, and written off. In addition, it has felt no qualms about disrupting the plans that many intending participants had made, and in foregoing the goodwill that might have been built up over the years. On all counts, it is a quite remarkable decision.

A couple of years ago we were lucky enough to get to a major Agricultural Show in the UK, which had been affected by an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease. Those familiar with it would perhaps have been saddened by the difference between that Show and the one in other years but for other visitors such as ourselves who were not immediately involved in agriculture, the Show was still varied, interesting, informative and in a nutshell, spectacularly successful. Why didn't the organisers cancel that particular Show?

This month is supposed to be Heritage Month and although it is clearly not understood in this way, the fact is that agriculture is an enormously rich area of heritage. It has a long, fascinating history which I first began to understand when comparing the miserable quality of road side cattle in Zimbabwe with their magnificent counterparts here. Differences of this kind do not occur by accident. Nor are they achieved overnight. Success in agriculture has to come about as a result of a slow building up process over the years of experience, knowledge, resources and support services. A stop-start process won't do the job and cancelling this year's Gaborone Show has revealed a Ministry that is too quick to go back when it should be going forward.