KGALAGADI DISTRICT AWAITS SPECIAL ISPAAD Gontse Mokgethisi and Neo Masanako reporting for BOPA Residents of the Kgalagadi region are waiting in anticipation for government to implement a special ISPAAD programme as it will enable them to also benefit from government initiatives. Due to poor soils, scarcity of rainfall and harsh weather conditions, efforts by the people of Kgalagadi to practice arable farming failed repeatedly, heightening levels of uneasiness and despondency. The harsh weather conditions rendered government initiatives such as backyard gardening and ISPAAD ineffective. After a series of meetings government resolved to institute a special ISPAAD programme for the people of Kgalagadi. Currently, the residents are waiting to enrol into the new programme with the hope that it will turn their sorrows into happiness. In an interview, Mr Nonofang Qhwao of Zutswa said the Kgalagadi region has always been very successful in small stock production and encouraged government to include small stock farming in the special ISPAAD programme. He added that small stock farming has always been successful in the region despite insufficient pastures occasioned by scarce rainfall. “Rainfall in Botswana is unreliable and very little. Kgalagadi is worse because of poor sandy soils which lack nutrients and can’t hold water for long. But somehow we have managed to successfully rear small stock over the years,” he said. Mr Qhwao said Kgalagadi has not been affected by outbreaks of animal diseases like foot and mouth such that government would spend less money on purchasing vaccines. Ms Botho Mabote, a youth from Hukuntsi, said there is need to educate the public about the difference between the special ISPAAD programme and the Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID). She also encouraged government to channel more efforts towards implementation as most government programmes are attractive on paper but are eventually crippled by poor implementation. For his part, Animal Production superintendent in Kgalagadi North, Mr Modisaotsile Morekisi explained that the special ISPAAD programme will equip existing boreholes and also offer guinea fowls to beneficiaries. He added that beneficiaries will first be assessed by social workers to make sure that they have not benefited from similar packages such as LIMID and poverty eradication before.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 08:20:22 +0000
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