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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke-Senior Reporter

ZIMBABWE and Botswana should leverage on each other’s strengths in various areas of the agriculture sector to increase their comparative and competitive advantages and enhance production, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has said.

Officially opening the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show in Harare yesterday, President Masisi said the agricultural sectors of the two countries were intertwined, hence sharing expertise would only serve to strengthen them.

He said Botswana had the good fortune to host experts in the veterinary services from Zimbabwe who were making a great impact in his country’s agriculture sector development.

The two Presidents applaud Best Agri-Produce Farmer Priscilla Marauka during a prize-giving ceremony. — Pictures: Believe Nyakudjara.

“I have no doubt that we can leverage on each other’s strengths in areas that we enjoy a comparative and competitive advantage in the agriculture space, with a view to further deepening collaborative efforts in this area. 

“It is also commendable that Zimbabwe also produces high quality veterinary surgeons and specialists, some of whom we have the rare privilege of having in our national institutions, such as the Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Department and the Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BoMRA). We continue to have a strong vote of confidence in the services that we receive from the experts who have been trained in your country,” President Masisi said.

Zimbabwe and Botswana share a long border with communities on both sides sharing familial ties as well as ways and means of livelihoods such as farming and livestock rearing.

However, this has aggravated challenges such as trans-boundary animal and crop diseases and pests, particularly Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) among others.

President Masisi said this had prompted the need to undertake joint interventions by the two Governments to address these challenges.

Botswana President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi inspects a Guard of Honour at the official opening of the 112th edition of the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show (ZAS) in Harare yesterday. — Pictures: Believe Nyakudjara, Kudakwashe Hunda and Justin Mutenda.

“Our two countries have also had to collaborate in addressing emerging threats like the goat plague, which if not controlled had the potential to cripple our agricultural industries, hamper the national development agenda, condemn our peoples to cyclical poverty by reversing developmental gains that we continue to safeguard today,” he said. 

“Your Excellency, let me salute you for your personal involvement and heightened level of interest in the one thorny issue, namely, livestock rustling along our common border which threatened the social harmony between communities that reside in this area. 

“As discussed and agreed during our previous engagements, particularly at the recently held BNC, the issue presents not only a huge risk for transmission of animal diseases, but it is also a serious threat to food and social security. I am grateful that our two nations are collaborating to combat such undesirable acts across our borders, as well as facilitate repatriation of recovered livestock”.

Pfumvudza Farmer of the Year Mr Consen Mutasa and wife Mavis Shayamano from Zaka, Masvingo, get a feel of the tractor they won at the ZAS awards yesterday.

President Masisi also commended the cooperation between his country’s Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) and the Grain Marketing Board on management of strategic grain reserves and the possibility of Botswana importing grain from Zimbabwe.

This comes as Zimbabwe recorded a surplus in the production of cereals in the 2021/2022 season while Botswana’s production was affected by a drought which impacted negatively on agricultural production.

“The contribution of the agricultural sectors of our two countries to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), differ significantly. For instance, in Botswana, the agricultural sector accounts for only 1.6 percent of the GDP, while in Zimbabwe, the sector’s contribution has ranged between 15 and 19 percent. 

“As such, I found it imperative that I avail myself to be part of this event, so as to facilitate exchange of views and experience in the agricultural space, for the mutual benefit of our countries and peoples,” said President Masisi.

He added that other areas of cooperation between the two countries were in livestock vaccine production, where Botswana is already producing a number of vaccines while Zimbabwe is doing well in the production of thermostable Newcastle vaccine and other quality veterinary medicinal products.

Tendai Mitchel Mufunda, an artist from Young Women for ED, shows off a portrait of President Mnangagwa which she did at the organisation’s stand at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show n Harare yesterday.

With regards leveraging ICT in the agriculture sector, President Masisi said digitising the sector could go a long way in facilitating extension officers to service remote areas at less cost and high level of efficiency and effectiveness.

He said the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, has exposed weaknesses and gaps in Africa’s production and supply chains.

“As we forge ahead in adopting mitigation measures and strategies, we have to be forever mindful to adopt climate resilient technologies for both crops and livestock in this digital era. 

“As we develop our agro-value chains, in efforts to improve competitiveness of the agricultural sectors of our countries vis-a-vis competitors, we need to appreciate the trade-offs resulting from these actions,” President Masisi said.

He encouraged exhibitors at the Agricultural show to use the platform to interrogate how the different information communication technologies that were being showcased can assist them to improve and expand their businesses.