*P206 Million secured from CEDA and NDB for grain farmers*Trust needed between BAMB and farmers- GPA The Ministry of Lands and Agriculture, in collaboration with Citizen Economic Entrepreneurial Agency(CEDA) and National Development Bank (NDB) has secured P206 million to partially settle the P271 million owed to farmers for their 2024/25 grain harvest. Government says efforts are underway to raise the remaining P65 million. Disbursements have begun, with 100% paid to farmers owed below P1 million and 74% paid to those owed above P1 million.
With funds now reaching both small-scale and large-scale farmers, this marks an important progress of moving toward full settlement. In November, Acting Minister of Lands and Agriculture Dr Edwin Dikoloti promised to pay farmers by mid December, a promise which is slowly becoming fulfilled. This follows a lament from farmers last month crying for payments for an estimated volume of about +120,000 tonnes of assorted grains including more than 80,000 tonnes of sorghum.
This included over 53,000 tonnes of sorghum, 3,000 tonnes of cowpeas, and 2,000 tonnes of maize delivered to Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB). The number of those farmers owed was 466 of which 430 of them were small scale farmers. “My ministry has been working around the clock to facilitate funds availability to BAMB to settle the outstanding payments owed to farmers for grain delivered during the past procurement season,” Dr Dikoloti said.
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The Minister added that while the absence of a dedicated budget presents a challenge, the ongoing funding efforts give assurance that government remains committed to honouring the payments due to farmers. “We recognise the critical role farmers play in national food production and are prioritising this matter to restore confidence within the agricultural sector,” he said, adding that these payments reflect BAMB’s ongoing commitment to supporting farmers across all scales of production.
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