The Relationship Between Leadership Lessons and Vegetable Importation Ban in Botswana

Volume 8, Issue 5, May – 2023 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
The Relationship between Leadership Lessons and

Vegetable Importation Ban in Botswana
1
Baoki Ditau
Phd Candidate
University of Zambia
Abstract:- Botswana imposed a nationwide import ban be investigated being the government’s decision to ban the
on some vegetable or horticultural products into importation of agricultural products and the impact of that
Botswana with effect from January 1, 2022. This ban decision on key stakeholders, being farmers, retailers and
according to the Minister of Agriculture, Fidelis Molao, the general population.
as stated in Mmegi newspaper, www.mmegi.bw is meant
to improve food security at national and household levels  Aim / Purpose of Study
in Botswana. Molao, further states that this vegetable The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the
import ban is meant to support local farmers and to lessons that Botswana government leadership learns from
foster agricultural independence and will run for a their decision to ban some agricultural products and how
period of 2 years, upon which it will be reviewed. The that decision has impacted on the stakeholders being the
ban further serves to help grow the agricultural sector in local farmers, retailers and general members of the public
Botswana. After 2 years the ban will then be reviewed to who live in Botswana. From this study it is evident that the
determine if it continues, or not. In some sectors of purpose of this study will focus on two (2) key issues being
Botswana government leadership, this ban is also meant to examine the lessons to government due to this decision
to reduce the country’s high import bill. The vegetable and secondly the impact of that decision of key stakeholders
products which are banned for import into the country mentioned above who are impacted by that decision.
includes, tomatoes, ginger, watermelons, butternuts,
potatoes, carrots, beetroots, cabbage, lettuce, turmeric,  General / Specific Objectives of the Study
peppers, green mealies and herbs. This study therefore The objectives of this study are listed below;
was carried out to assess this relationship between
leadership lessons (empowerment, strategic thinking,  Are to describe the effects of the government decision to
adaptability, self-awareness, and communications) and ban the importation of some agricultural products.
how they(lessons) relate to the vegetable importation ban  Impact of the government decision on government
in Bo policy that the government intended to rectify.
 Impact of the government policy on key stakeholders,
I. INTRODUCTION farmers, retailers, economic bill and lastly general
citizenry.
The government of Botswana recently imposed a ban
on the importation of some agricultural products, II. LITERATURE REVIEW
particularly on some horticultural products. The reasons
advanced by the government leadership was that Botswana There are several key areas in this research work which
has a very high import bill and also to stimulate local are important to this study and are are listed below;
agricultural sector by guaranteeing them a market. They
(government) also stated that they will be studying the Leadership lessons in decision making is a very critical
situation presented by this decision and would periodically tool, Salahuddin (2016) asserts that leadership and decision
review their decision. This research work fundamentally making play a central role in influencing policy and
seeks to understand the relationship between the leadership focusing leadership to attain among others, influencing
lessons and the import ban of vegetable, and its impact to others, goals setting and above all set goals. In this case
the key stakeholders in the country. In a nutshell this study with the decision made by the government of Botswana, the
seeks to establish those leadership lessons that the leadership of the country faced with the decisions to make
government would take from this import ban and how they emanating from the high import bill which according to
will impact key stakeholders, namely the farmers, the Statistics Botswana, trade statistics which states that
business in Botswana and lastly the general population in Botswana has an import bill of 1 billion US Dollars per
Botswana. month. From this statistics one can see that Botswana
suffers from imbalances in trade and as a result, the
 Statement of the Problem government target some segments of the economy in which
How does the decision of the government of Botswana to reduce this high import bill. Among those sectors targeted
affect the provision of horticultural products to all key was the agricultural industry , with the horticultural sector
stakeholders in Botswana? This statement of the problem being the target in which some produces will be banned
therefore seeks to establish the two variables that needs to
IJISRT23MAY767 www.ijisrt.com 275

ISSN No:-2456-2165
from importing. This decision according to the ministry of  Reasearch Methodology
Agriculture and Food Security website was subject to This research used the qualitative method as this was a
termly review and depending on the leadership lessons, then requirement for this research work. The primarily research
they (leadership lessons leant) will determine a decision design for this research will be qualitative research which
regarding this import ban. emanates from a question posed at the beginning of this
research work which seeks to answer the question about the
International trade is another important aspect that is choices in International trade theories on trade restrictions,
impacted on by the decision of the government of Botswana. free trade or protectionism in trade. This research was
According to the United Nations (UN) document on entitled was The Relationship between Leadership Lessons
International trade manual for Latin America and the & Vegetable Importation Ban in Botswana.
Caribbean, United Nations, International Trade and
Inclusive Development (2014) states that international trade  Significance of the Study
helps develop countries far better than the silo protectionist This study is important as it examines the topical issue
policies as international helps provide cheaper services due that is currently affecting Botswana and the African region
to economies of scale and scope which is the opposite of at large. The decision by the government of Botswana
what trade protectionism does as it negatively impact the presents an interesting perspective as it offers an insights on
customer who has to bear the expensive costs that ultimately how government decisions can impact an industry. In this
results as a results of lack to limited competition. This UN case the agriculture sector. Does a ban in agriculture
document further posits that as a results of this limited presents an opportunity for the agricultural sector to grow in
perspective industries in countries fail to build proper Botswana? Without this ban, can’t the country’s agricultural
synergies needed to build home industries that to growing sector grow? How does this ban impact on farmers, on the
the competitive advantages of the synergistic industries in a general economic activities of the country? Botswana is a
country. signatory to the common Southern African Customs Union
(SACU) how does this ban affect SACU. There is also the
According to Acemoglu and Robinson (2012), states African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA)
that countries that subscribe to free trade and governments which presents countries with access to market upon
assumed regulatory posture are like to be more successful becoming a member? Isn’t Botswana protectionist stance
than the countries. In this case for Botswana, the decision to counter progress in the African region? This research work
ban the import of some agricultural products provide an examines these significant factors mentioned above.
insightful example, as whether it will be a short or long term
decisions and its impact on growing the agricultural sectors  Result of the Study
enough to compete regionally and globally. This is the Structured interviews were conducted between
question that this research work seeks to find an answer to. November 2022 and January 2023. These interviews we
How does this decision by the government impact the structured to get a deeper understanding of how various
consumer needs? Farmers and lastly the country. stakeholders were affected by this decision to ban
vegetables import into Botswana and 15 professionals
 Research Questions working at the Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana
Parliament, BURS, BUAN, BAMB, farmers, retail and
 What effect does the Botswana government leadership’s wholesaler’s representatives were targeted. These
decisions affect key stakeholders in the local economy? professionals were targeted because they each had a role to
 What lesson has the government of Botswana learnt as a play in the agricultural sector and at the same time were
result of this ban & how those lessons influence the directly affected by this government leadership decision.
government decision/s? The interviewees were asked for their point of view on
 What is the impact of the government decision on the the decision by government of Botswana leadership to Ban
local economy? the importation of some vegetable products into Botswana.
 Are there any other mitigating factors that accompanies Of the five stakeholders who took part in the study only the
this government decision to ban the import of some farmers felt that this decision was good for their sector.
horticultural products? These farmers felt that as a result of this government ban,
 Effects of the government decision on the general they had been able to sell their produce to the market.
citizenry?
 Has this decision been beneficial to the country ? Retailer & wholesale representative stated that since
 Has there been a decrease in the Botswana government this ban, the quality of the vegetable product has declined.
This interviewee felt that the quality of the product though
importation bill ?
inferior had no bearing on the produce as they still paid a lot
 Has there been growth in the size of production to the
for the produce. There was also a complaint about
Botswana to the retail industries by local producers?
inconsistency of supply by farmers, who mostly were
 What measures have been put in place to ensure that subsistence in nature and couldn’t do contract farming.
local producers are able to compete with international
producers, without government intervention ? Student, the student for his part felt that BUAN was
 Is this government policy sustainable ? not really doing enough to graduate students who could fill
this niche. This student felt that the student’s intake at

ISSN No:-2456-2165
BUAN was not skewed towards horticultural, agronomy like the best opportunity to grow. Government financier for
subjects which could produce students who are ready to farmers the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency
produce vegetable produce that help fill the market need. (CEDA) which developed a package to assist farmers. This
was a welcome development as some farmers were able to
III. METHODOLOGY access finance and develop their farming operations.
Another government training arm the Local Enterprise
Primarily the research methodology for this research Authority (LEA) also assisted farmers to build capacity. For
will be qualitative research which emanates from a question this ban to succeed and reach its goal there was need for it to
posed at the beginning of this research work which seeks to be prolonged as with any development issue, it takes time.
answer the question about the choices in International trade
theories on trade restrictions, free trade or protectionism in The retailers and wholesalers also made profits by
trade. Botswana in this case adopted to restrict international profiteering during this ban. The consumers had no option
trade in the agriculture sector by targeting in particular trade but to pay whatever the stores were charging. The issue of
restriction in the horticulture sector. There will be a mixture scarcity also made it difficult for consumers to try and buy
of methodologies that this study is going adopt, therefore, from the competing stores as it meant that one must buy
there will be primary and secondary mythologies used in vegetable produce such as potatoes because if one does not
this research. buy, he or she may find that they have run out. There is no
doubt that due to profiteering many households were
Data gathering Instruments will be designed to ask key negatively affected by the ban. To compound this problem,
stakeholders about the impact of this government decision, the government also increased the value added tax (vat) on
key among the participants will be the employees of the the already heavily priced good. The purchasing power
Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Farmers, Retail parity of show that prices of vegetables were steep in
stores personnel and lastly the general population who are Botswana for vegetables than in some neighboring states as
the consumers of these agricultural products. Secondary a result some of the Botswana nationals would go but these
sources of information will also be used to augment gaps. vegetables and hen illegally sell them in the country. The
status quo with exception of the farmers’ situation has
 Sample Size and Participants Selection remained the same with foreign owned retailers controlling
Sample size is expected to be eighty (80) participants the market. This research concludes that he building of the
from the target group of government officials at the ministry local value chain in the agricultural sector has not happened.
of Agriculture, Retailers, Farmer and general consumer
population groups. REFERENCES
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[11]. Green H (2014). Use of Theoretical and Conceptual
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Volume 8, Issue 5, May – 2023 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

The Relationship between Leadership Lessons and

IJISRT23MAY767 www.ijisrt.com 275

IJISRT23MAY767 www.ijisrt.com 276

IJISRT23MAY767 www.ijisrt.com 277

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