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?Send Youth To Israel To Get Agric Skills? |
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Two Members of Parliament who recently visited Israel have encouraged government to send youth to that country so that they can acquire agricultural skills. Debating in Parliament, Mephato Reatile, MP for Ngwaketse West, said the Israeli agricultural sector is highly modernised and export-oriented. He said agriculture is a key destination for foreign workers in Israel and Botswana could take advantage of this situation to send some young people there to acquire skills. According to Reatile, foreign workers in the agriculture sector earn up to US$900 a month. He said the Israeli government supports the importation of labour from other countries. As Botswana?s potential lies in agriculture, ? we must tap into this sector and create jobs for Batswana,? he said. Reatile is convinced that the full potential of agriculture has not been exploited; he urged Batswana to take farming seriously. On other issues he said the Ministry of agriculture has many educated people who spend most of their time in offices. He said in countries where agriculture is doing well like Israel people who are trained in agriculture spend the bulk of their time on the field. Reatile encouraged those in agriculture to be involved more in research areas to find out how the country can best make use of its fertile soils and to some extent for many crops favourable climate. For his part, Gantsi North MP Christian Degraaf said Batswana could gain a lot from working in Israel?s agriculture sector. He said farming technologies are at an advanced stage in that country and officials are willing to welcome Batswana. He said young people could benefit from the experience because they will learn new farming techniques. The government could send a few young people who will come back after some time and pass on the skills to other young people. He said what they saw in Israel can be beneficial to both the subsistence and commercial farming. The Israel TAHAL Group has signed a contract for the expansion of an existing project for development of the agricultural sector in Botswana. The project, which began in 1998, involved preparation of a countrywide master plan for agricultural development (NAMPAAD), the overall aim being to shift from subsistence farming to commercial production by incorporating advanced cultivation and marketing techniques.
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