Farmers want slice of P97m FMD budget

JACKALAS NO. 1: When the Mmegi team descended at the border village this week to hear from the farmers and butchery owners themselves, they had a mouthful to say. The area has become the epicentre of the country’s latest Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak, with the suspension of trade, export, slaughter and related activities involving cattle, goats, sheep and pigs across the country.

These are not ordinary times. Yet, history reminds us that this nation has navigated difficult waters before and did so by clinging firmly to the principles of prudence and macroeconomic stability. From independence in 1966, Botswana chose a path few resource-rich countries managed to sustain.

Diamond revenues were not treated as windfalls for reckless expansion, but as capital to be managed with caution. The establishment of fiscal rules,…