Smuggled Plants, Fruits A Threat To Food Security

A Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) workshop on bio-security heard last week that incidents of restricted fruits and plants smuggled into the country at border posts are putting the country at risk of an invasion of species of plants, diseases and pests.

Mogomotsi Moatswi, from the Plant Protection Department (Border Compliance) at MoA, stated that as a net importer of food items, Botswana is at high risk of attracting foreign animal and crop diseases and pests.  He said that although in most cases people choose not to comply with customs and cross border trade laws, a lot needs to be done to inform traders as information do not reach them. He said some traders and transporters choose not to declare goods to customs officers some of which are prohibited.