The Turkish Embassy recently extended support to the Okavango region, which remains plagued by food security challenges – handing over tractors and agricultural equipment to small-scale horticulture farmers.
The handover forms part of the project: “Empowering Small-Scale Horticulture Farmers through Climate-Resilient Practices and Equipment,” spearheaded by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) in collaboration with Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN).
The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency has provided donations worth P318,000, encompassing of 4 walking tractors with their disk ploughs, planters, tool boxes and Rota vapors. Each tractor is valued at around P67,800.
BUAN also provided training in Vegetable Production for fifty-two (52) beneficiaries with its total package valued at over P200,000. This training was offered on the 14th –16th June 2025.
When delivering his keynote address, the Vice Chancellor for BUAN, Professor Ketlhatlogile Mosepele said that at the university they believe passionately in sustainable development. He added that as a specialised university of Agriculture and Natural Resources, their mandate is core to human livelihoods.
The professor said agriculture and natural resources are therefore important to the livelihoods of communities in the Shakawe area. “Agriculture is the source of life and natural resources are the foundations of basic human survival,” he emphasized.
Further to that the donation made, the university also taught farmers production methods of different vegetables like Potatoes, Cabbage and Tomatoes. This is meant to assist the community to diversify their crop and enhance the Sustainability of their horticulture enterprises.
“We taught them all aspects of horticultural production, from cropping plans and budgeting to post-harvest handling techniques,” Mosepele added.
Professor Mosepele noted that the training was combined and intertwined with aspects of climate resilience and climate smart farming methods which is meant to mainstream climate change mitigation and adaptation into farmers’ horticultural enterprises, to ensure that there is sustainability.
As he awarded the farmers with certificates, Ambassador Republic of Türkiye –Ahmet Idem Akay said TIKA under the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism is engaged in various development cooperation activities in more than 170 countries through its 63 Programme Coordination Offices located in 61 countries across five continents. Botswana is one of those countries which benefit from TIKA projects.
“Our relations with Botswana are based on the principles of mutual respect and equality. We will continue to develop our bilateral relations on a win-win basis,” the ambassador assured.
