BAMB Chief Executive Officer Lillian Scheepers told Parliament’s committee on statutory bodies and state enterprises that the institution’s current financial position is not sufficient to support the 2026/27 procurement season.
The warning comes after BAMB only recently cleared arrears owed to farmers for the previous marketing season, during which producers delivered about 50,000 tonnes of sorghum, 3,000 tonnes of cowpeas and 2,000 tonnes of maize valued at roughly P260 million. Payments for those deliveries were delayed by nearly 12 months, forcing farmers to absorb significant financing and interest costs during the waiting period.
That outstanding obligation was later settled through emergency borrowing. In March, BAMB secured a P257 million one-year facility from Access Bank Botswana to clear outstanding farmer payments. The loan, secured against multiple BAMB assets including infrastructure and grain stock, is already putting pressure on the board. With the first installment of about P68 million due June 1, BAMB says it has raised only about P2 million so far, intensifying concerns over its repayment capacity and broader solvency risks.
Speaking to The Business Weekly & Review, Botswana Commercial Farmers Association board member Muller Hough said confidence in payment timelines remains fragile following recent parliamentary disclosures.
“Due to recent answers given before Parliament, farmers are greatly concerned about payment times and trust in the institution as a whole,” Hough said.
The concerns are amplified by BAMB’s statutory role as the sole buyer for certain strategic grains under government-supported production schemes, a structure that limits farmers’ ability to redirect produce to alternative buyers even when payments are delayed.
Despite this, Scheepers has indicated that farmers remain committed to delivering to BAMB in line with existing regulatory restrictions.
The loan was premised on BAMB operating more fully as a grain aggregator, consolidating both domestic procurement and import-export activity under its mandate. It was envisaged that by 2026, BAMB would operate fully as a grain aggregator in line with its mandate under the BAMB Act, with a particular focus on both locally procured grains and white maize imports. Botswana imports an estimated 240,000 metric tonnes of white maize annually from South Africa, but these volumes are currently brought into the country through millers rather than being channeled through BAMB as the central aggregator.
However, internal assessments under the new leadership suggested that the organization is not yet operationally or financially prepared to fully execute an expanded aggregation model, particularly one involving large-scale import volumes. Scheepers raised these concerns to the committee, stating that attempting to absorb such volumes without adequate systems and scale could expose the institution to further operational inefficiencies and financial risk.
With just over 100 days in office, Scheepers, a renowned agricultural administrator, says she is still confronting extensive governance, procurement and financial control failures within BAMB, alongside mounting operational and debt pressures.
Despite the challenges, farmer representatives say they remain cautiously supportive of ongoing reform efforts. Hough said the association still views BAMB as critical to the country’s grain security system, expressing confidence in Scheepers, who previously worked with them as CEO.
“We believe she is the right person for the job, and that still means something to us. We do still have confidence in the ability of the organization to turn things around with the necessary support from government and improved management fundamentals,” he added.
Hough said the association remains committed to supporting BAMB’s role as a central grain aggregator, describing it as essential to the long-term stability of Botswana’s agricultural sector.
“It is crucial for the future of farming that we have a strong and properly functioning BAMB,” Hough said.
