Botswana’s farming sector is facing what industry leaders describe as an imminent collapse with thousands of jobs at risk and the country’s food security under threat
GAZETTE REPORTER
Two independent reports, one by the Pandamatenga Farmers Association and another by the Botswana Grain Producers Association (BGPA), paint a stark picture of an agricultural sector on the brink of collapse as the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) fails to pay farmers for grain delivered months ago.
According to the Pandamatenga Farmers Association, more than 55,000 tonnes of grain worth P260 million have been delivered to BAMB this season, yet farmers “have received zero Pula to date.” The association says producers across the country, from smallholders to large commercial farms, are now in severe financial distress, forced to rely on expensive bank overdrafts with interest rates of Prime plus 9 percent.
NATIONAL CRISIS
“This is now a national crisis. Grain farmers across Botswana are at risk of bankruptcy because of these delays,” the association warned. It says farmers continue to pay workers, service machinery, buy fuel, and transport produce — yet without payment for their harvest, they are sinking deeper into debt while “the only players winning in this chaos are the banks.”
Small-scale farmers have already abandoned fields because they cannot buy seed, repair broken equipment, or hire labour. Commercial farmers described as the backbone of national grain output — are reportedly approaching “breaking point.”
ACCESS TO LOANS
“Some farmers do not even have access to loans from NDB or CEDA and depend entirely on cash flow from produce sales. Those farmers are already out of business,” the Pandamatenga report states.
The crisis is becoming more dire as the rainy season begins, the most critical planting window of the year. Thousands of hectares remain unplanted because farmers cannot afford inputs. “The rains don’t wait for payments. If farmers cannot plant on time, Botswana risks losing an entire season of grain production,” the association cautioned.
BGPA: “This is no longer a warning. It is a plea.”
AGRICULTURAL MELTDOWN
A separate report by the Botswana Grain Producers Association reinforces the gravity of the situation, saying “the country is now on the verge of an agricultural shutdown.” The BGPA warns of catastrophic consequences: collapsing farms, mass job losses, and a crippled agricultural value chain affecting millers, suppliers, transporters, and rural communities dependent on farm employment.
The association accuses BAMB of long-standing operational inefficiencies and persistent late payments, saying farmers have spent years alerting government to the institution’s financial instability.
Farmers have “gone to great lengths to support the search for alternative funding,” the BGPA says, including proposing joint financing models and identifying external buyers for surplus grain.
Both reports urgently call for intervention from government, banks, and national institutions.