Impact of Government Financial Incentives on Peri-Urban Vegetable Production in Botswana

In its effort to increase agricultural productivity, the government of Botswana has established financial schemes to improve vegetable production. The Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) and CEDA Young Farmers Fund are encouraging farmers to become involved in vegetable production through financial and technical assistance. However, data on the impacts of these funds on vegetable production in the country are scarce and often unreliable. Very little is known in fact about changes in the quantity of vegetables produced or vegetable produce imported into the country and consumed after these funds were introduced. This paper discusses the impact of these government incentives on farm-land allocated to vegetables, total vegetable production and import of vegetable in Botswana. The increasing interest in vegetable production, the change in demographics and the trend to import production inputs are also discussed.