Kasane — Food production and security is expected to increase in Chobe with the latest handover of agricultural machinery and implements worth over P1 million; courtesy of the United Nations Development Programme through their Bio-Chobe project.
Receiving the implements on Monday, Vice President, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi challenged Chobe farmers to prove their worth and justify why they had to receive the donation instead of other farmers elsewhere.
"The burden is on you to prove that you deserve this more than anyone else, and since these are communal resources, you must put national interests ahead of individual or political agendas," he cautioned.
He highlighted that this could not have come at a better time as agricultural production in Chobe west had gone down as a result of climate change and high levels of human-wildlife conflict.
"As part of the Bio-Chobe project, farmers will be encouraged to adopt modern farming practices such as minimum tillage, crop cover and rotation to reduce the impact of climate change," he noted.He added that to address human-wildlife conflict, the Ministry of Agriculture through Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD) encouraged farmers to cluster fence their fields to reduce crop damage by wildlife.