Gert Schmidt ploughs 800 hectares of wheat in the Pandamatenga Special Economic Zone (SEZ). He produces up to 1,200 tonnes of wheat per annum, all of which is locally consumed by Bokomo and Bolux for the manufacture of flour, pasta and other products. However, the 1,200 tonnes fall far short of the 100 000 tonnes consumed in Botswana every year. “Most of Botswana’s annual wheat demand is imported,”
said Schmidt.
He added that wheat has great potential to flourish in Pandamatenga, which receives higher rainfall amounts on top of the added ability of its black cotton soil to contain moisture.
For his part, Director of Policy and Planning at SEZA Jayson Sechele said there are opportunities for further production and beneficiation of wheat in the Pandamatenga SEZ, where the Authority is setting up an agropolis city with opportunities for investment in cereal production, agro- processing, water management solutions as well as pesticides and fertilizer production.
