Agricultural Field Day at the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources

by Dr Mataba Tapela; Coordinator, BUAN – Israel Student Attachment Programme

Useful and interesting information came to light at the field day presented by the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) at its Sebele Campus in Gaborone on 18 October 2019. The event was officially opened by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Rule Jimmy Opelo. Other dignitaries included the Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Shalaulani Nsoso and the Israel Honorary Counsel in Botswana, Mr Richard Lyons.

The objectives of the event were to:

• Bring together key industry players across the agricultural value chain and showcase the potential of agricultural development and food security in Botswana;

• Showcase that technology, water availability and farmer determination are key to successful farming;

• Demonstrate the benefit of functional partnerships and collaborations (as demonstrated by BUAN, Israel’s Agency for International Development (MASHAV), and SeedCo).

The event was held at the Agricultural Incubation Project field where the irrigation equipment was donated by the Israel Government through MASHAV.

The project is run by seven BUAN graduates who went on an eleven-month cross-border attachment programme in Israel between 2017 and 2018. The programme exposes students from Botswa- na to advanced agricultural production technologies in Israel which experiences similar desert conditions to Botswana.

Since 2017, BUAN annually sends 35 students to Israel. To date, a critical mass of 70 students have graduated from the programme and another 35 will complete the programme in August 2020. BUAN is the only university of agriculture in Botswana and its two key strategic objectives are to promote innovation and strategic use of technology, and to develop collaborative partnerships in order to produce market ready graduates for the agriculture and natural resources sectors.

Botswana and Israel have similar climatic conditions which are characterised by very low and erratic rainfall. The weather is also extremely hot during the summer with temperatures exceeding 40ºC, resulting in desert conditions. While the climate conditions are similar in both countries, the challenge for Botswana is achieving food self-sufficiency due to more frequent drought conditions.

The drought results in moisture deficits preventing crops from growing to full maturity. Israel, on the other hand, is able to develop and use moistureefficient technologies to produce sufficient harvests for domestic consumption as well as for the export market.

The Field Day was a true testimony that when the right technology combines with the right farmer attitude, and efficient use of water resources, farming can be successful. The students planted maize on about 1 ha, as well as butternuts, watermelons, tomatoes and cabbages on another hectare. The crops were planted around the 18th of August 2019 and the harvest is expected in mid-November 2019.

Interestingly, mid-November is usually the time when most Batswana farmers practising rainfed agriculture are still preparing for ploughing and planting. In contrast the BUAN students will be harvesting. This will give them a chance to plant a second crop in December, which will be harvested at the end of March 2020, before planting winter crops.  The event was very successful with an estimate of over 300 visitors and it was well covered in print, radio and television media.