MBABANE – The Minister for Agriculture, Mandla Tshawuka, has shared the strategic initiatives the country will utilise to ensure long-term profitability and food security.
Minister Tshawuka, during a panel discussion at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Forum in Rome, Italy yesterday, highlighted the kingdom’s strategic initiatives to attract investment in its agricultural sector. The minister detailed several key strategies, including the favourable investment climate of Eswatini for agricultural enterprises. He also emphasised investments in critical infrastructure, including irrigation systems, road networks and future planned storage to enhance productivity and market access for farmers.
Furthermore, the minister highlighted Eswatini’s commitment to sustainable agricultural practices and value chain development, particularly in high-value crops and livestock, to ensure long-term profitability and food security.
“We import about 75 per cent of our basic food and we have a high unemployment rate,” he said, explaining the need for the enlisted strategies.
The minister said these strategies stem from the realisation that the country’s agri-food system had a huge reliance on imports.
He said government believes in integrated approaches to investment. He further said government would scale up agro-processing, which will add value to the shelf life of the country’s produce.
“We have a lot of opportunities and a lot of value chains, which we believe we can scale up. Already, we have players like Coca-Cola who are utilising our sugar production in the country to produce their secret ingredient, which they then use across the globe.
These are the programmes we want to scale up so that we achieve our goals,” said Minister Tshawuka.
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