'Nothing' is more than food for thought

Unlike other countries, the Botswana situation is made worse by the fact that the country is a net importer of food, sourcing an alarming 90 percent of its food from outside, predominantly South Africa.

This means that if producer countries stop supplies to the international markets, we are doomed. Even our well-endowed neighbours will not help us because they have bigger populations to feed and will want to keep any surpluses as reserves. In a nutshell, we have very few but clear options, mainly in the long-term. We believe the looming crisis should cause a fresh push to make Botswana self-sufficient in food. We must ensure our food security and self-sufficiency by undergoing a major agrarian drive by means of irrigated and mechanised farming using intensive methods.