Sigwele advises young farmers

A leading Botswana independent agriculture economist, Dr Howard Sigwele, has suggested that prospective young farmers should be empowered with relevant business management skills. Speaking yesterday at the CEDA Young Farmers Fund workshop, Sigwele said business management skills are more important than writing skills.

He also added that to administer these skills, the fund needs better people to train the farmers.
"It is important that we guide the youth," said the agriculture expert. Sigwele also told the workshop that it is bad for young people to copy each other's business ideas.

He said the youth should go out and find what the market needs so that farmers do not go into the same business like producing vegetables at the same time.

Sigwele added that vegetables could not go wrong, if those involved do the right thing.
"You should find out what the market really wants. For example, if you plough the same vegetables, the prices will go down," he argued. He also advised that young farmers should explore agricultural opportunities in dairy farming and raising of flowers and added that flowers can be produced for export. On the other hand, Sigwele told the young prospective farmers that the poultry industry is another area where they could create a niche for themselves.

He also said that under the farming sector, it is not only production that they should concentrate on, but also other areas like services to support the industry.

He advised that some of them should go into services like designing irrigation.

Meanwhile, Sigwele raised concerns about bottlenecks in getting land in Botswana, which he said takes a long period to acquire.

He said that agriculture, unlike the Information Technology (IT) sector cannot be done in the sky, as it needs to produce.