CEDA Young Farmers Fund: 6/24/07

Assist young farmers with land, 24 April, 2007
MOLEPOLOLE - Farmers in Kweneng District have been encouraged to assist young farmers with their unused fields while they awaited land allocation to enable them to use CEDA Young Farmers Fund.

Officials of the Department of Crop Production advised when conducting a community leadership seminar on empowerment initiatives, in Molepolole on Saturday.

They said while awaiting the land board to allocate land to young farmers, parents should assist their children with land to avoid delaying them to venture into agricultural business.

Officials indicated that there were unused fields which could be handed to their young ones on agreement with parents. However, the Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Daniel Kwelagobe, said government was concerned about most of Batswana who failed to use existing government assistance programmmes.

Mr Kwelagobe said government provided various assistance programmes to deliver Batswana from poverty, but some of them still pushed themselves in the yokes of poverty by not using the programmes accordingly.

He pointed a finger at Bakwena who said they were always left behind in using government programmes, encouraging them to get on their marks.

He said some Batswana misused programmes by venturing in wrong uses, citing SMME, saying some bought cell phones instead of starting tuck shops.

Mr Kwelagobe urged community leaders to disseminate the information to communities they served to use the programmes before they were closed or reviewed.

The Principal Agricultural Scientific Officer, Mr Agrippa Nehemia, said the government introduced the programmes to assist unemployed youth roaming the street.

He said they wanted to reduce the migration of youth from rural to urban areas, saying they should use the scheme to create employment for themselves and their counterparts in rural areas.

He advised them to contact agricultural demonstrators and veterinary officers for assistance, advising them to venture into marketable businesses, adding that they should be passionate and committed.

Mr Nehemia said youth were an impatient group which need regular encouragement, advising their parents to stand by their shoulders.

Mr Shimane Mongati of the Department of Land Board Services told participants that the minister had directed all land boards to assist young farmers fund applicants within 14 days to answer their requests, and should be done in a special way.

He said the minister also stated that 18 years old youth should be allocated land instead of 21 years as it was. He further said the land boards were working around the clock on a strategic plan on how they were going to assist young farmers with land allocation which have been a problem.

Mr Oabile Regoeng, the public relations manager for the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency, criticised Batswana for laziness and reluctance to use free government programmes.

Mr Regoeng said assistance that came through the defunct Botswana Enterprises Development Unit, Financial Assistance Policy and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises were under used.

He said Botswana depended on diamond revenue, some Batswana would regret not having used advantage of economic prosperity.

He said most foreigners were scrambling to run businesses in Botswana because of the countrys plentiful opportunities while citizens remained spectators.

He called on Batswana to help diversify the economy and add value to it -- through the use of the various assistance programmes -- so that they created employment for themselves and other Batswana.

Mr Lesang Leloba, a youth projects officer, said his department assisted out-of-school youth with grants to start businesses.

He said the department assisted unemployed youth aged between 18 to 29 who were degree holders only earning P500 or less at the end of the month.

But some participants were worried about the difficulty in completing forms and said applications took too long to be approved.

They said some applications were rejected without justification. They said shortage of land would prevent them from using the programmes. Others called for monitoring of the projects to avoid collapse. BOPA

CEDA Young Farmers Fund

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