Abstract

In its effort to increase agricultural productivity, the Government of Botswana has established a financial scheme to improve vegetable production. Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) and CEDA young farmers fund are encouraging farmers to get involved in vegetable production through financial and technical assistants. However, data on the impacts of these funds on vegetable production in the country are scarce and often unreliable. Very little is in fact known about the change in the quantity of vegetable produced, vegetable produce imported to the country and consumed after these funds are 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 demography and the trend in import of production inputs are also discussed.

Key words: Botswana, Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA), financial incentives, government, urban, vegetable.