- Botswana Horticulture Council says middlemen, hawkers and retail outlets raise prices in pursuit of profit
BONGANI MALUNGA
Local farmers should not be vilified for the inflated prices of vegetables in the local market they do not dictate the retail pricing of farm produce.
Responding to the burning issue of retail prices of fresh produce in Botswana, especially vegetables, the Botswana Horticulture Council says its members are blameless as suppliers because they hardly prioritise high profit margins.
Middlemen
Addressing the issue in an interview on Btv recently, the Chairman of the Botswana Horticulture Council, Mogomotsi Moatswi, stated that the whole supply chain is unfairly painted with the same brush when it is the middlemen, hawkers and retail outlets who raise prices for profit.
“As farmers, our obligation is to produce and harvest our vegetables for market consumption,” he said. “A local farmer has to play multiple roles. We have to produce and deliver the goods to the selling points or consumers.
“In some instances, if the supply outweighs the demand, we have to go back and collect the leftovers. This has placed a heavy burden on local farmers because the cost of production is overwhelming.
Fertiliser prices
“The farmer in Botswana is still a price-taker; we do not negotiate prices. We disagree with the notion that we are to blame for the inflated prices of vegetables.
“The farmers are not benefitting as much as they should. The middlemen, the first consumers of the produce, are the ones who drive the prices up.”
Moatswi noted that the rise in fertiliser prices is an additional issue for farmers. “Ever since the ban (began), fertiliser prices have tripled,” he said.
“Who is accounting for that? It’s still the farmer. We have to deal with price increase of fertilisers while being expected to drive our prices down.”
Revolving fund
He called for a revolving fund that will plug holes in the market. This is because collection centres have varying waiting periods that leave farmers waiting for months to benefit from supplying their produce.
Moatswi said such a revolving fund would help cover farmers’ production costs during the waiting periods. “The government has been on record talking about how much we have saved on our import bill,” he pointed out.
“It would be ideal to channel some of those funds into a revolving fund that would enable farmers to be paid immediately upon delivery.”