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Horticultural Market Opens At B/hurst |
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CALVINIAH KGAUTLHE
 Botswana Horticultural Market has started operating after a couple of failed attempts in the past. The market started operations on November 6 and aims to be a unique centre where fresh produce is offered in full basket.
It seeks to assist local horticultural farmers take advantage of marketing opportunities and facilitate the distribution of Botswana farm products on the domestic market.
Located at the old Hyundai motor assembly plant in Broadhurst Industrial Sites, the market is the brainchild of horticulture farmers through the Botswana Horticultural Council (BHC) and is jointly financed by BHC and Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) on a 49-51 percent share holding, which translates to a total investment of P7.5 million.
Speaking at a press conference last week, BHC market board chairman Simon Meti said: “We are a commission based market in which we sell produce on behalf of the farmers through agents who were identified by a team of experts.” He says that during the transaction the horticultural market gets five percent commission and the agent gets between five and 7.5 percent, depending on the agreement between the agent and the producer/client.
Botswana Horticultural Market opens at a time when there is increasing demand for horticultural products. According to the Ministry of Agriculture - Horticulture Section Annual report: “The 2007/2008 national demand for horticultural crops was estimated at 73 800 metric tones (48 211 for vegetables and 25 589 for fruits) while production for the same year was estimated at 37 890 metric tones. When compared to year 2006/2007 demand has increased by 3.39 percent.
Acknowledging involvement of Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) chief horticulturalist Barutwa Thebenala said: “Botswana Horticultural Market springs after a feasibility study ahead of NDP10 was done with the involvement of key stakeholders and proven there was a need to have a central horticultural market.” He says that as per the NAMPAADD Implementation Guidelines, the ministry will assist farmers through various provisions such as service centres where farmers have formed production clusters, irrigation and others.
He said that although the demand for horticultural products is way higher than the local supply as indicated on the table below, there has been much improvement in local production volumes namely butternuts, cabbage, oranges, onions, beetroots. He says that the ministry restricts importation of these products as their quantity available locally is enough to warrant the closure of the border post. He says that Ministry of Agriculture regulates horticultural imports through regional offices.
Board chairman Meti added that the Botswana Horticulture Market and the industry in general is still at an infant stage and requires more hard work from local farmers. And that the prices are set by the market forces depending on production costs and various variables. He encourages both large and small scale farmers to bring forth their produce to the market as it will benefit them.
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