A re chengcheng means “let’s change”. It is a campaign in Botswana to encourage people do to things differently to achieve a better future. As part of the campaign government provides support to people wanting to start farming or grow farming enterprises. The campaign provides small grants for livestock, equipment and infrastructure.

Botswana has used campaigns like this, combined with restrictions on imports to grow local agriculture and the value of locally produced vegetables increased from P125 million in 2018/19 to P188 million in 2020/21.

It is interesting to look at the possible contributing factors to this growth. By reducing the risk of having low-priced imports flood the market, the government ensured that farmers would be able to sell their produce. Similarly, by reducing the risk of capital, the government encouraged farmers to in invest in equipment and infrastructure to develop and expand local production.

As it is election season, are there ideas from this that political parties in South Africa could borrow from? What can be done to tackle unemployment? Can markets for locally produced products be enhanced and made more reliable? Can improved access to equipment and infrastructure encourage people to start and develop small enterprises more easily? Here are some ideas:

• Urban recycling: Improved prices and a more stable market for recyclable materials could be developed. Grants for trolleys, cargo bikes and PPE would enable collections and transport to be safer and more efficient. A better network of local recycling nodes would reduce the distances that materials have to be transported and improve collection rates. Increased recycling would reduce requirements for municipal collections and transportation to landfill sites, providing savings which could be used to support urban recycling enterprises.
• Urban agriculture: There are many unused parcels of land in cities that could be used for urban agriculture. Fresh produce markets in neighbourhoods would provide reliable outlets where small farmers could sell their produce. Affordable land leases and grants or low-interest loans for infrastructure and equipment like fencing, irrigation and cargo bikes could be used to support small-scale farming of produce like lettuces, onions, tomatoes and peppers.
• Food processing: Neighbourhood markets could also provide reliable outlets for small-scale food processing enterprises. Well-located small affordable rental units and grants for equipment could also be used to encourage the manufacture of products like bread, peanut butter, jams, relishes, sauces and yoghurt.

There are many other areas, for instance within the field of building products and maintenance, that could also be developed. It would be good to see government working with businesses and civil society to explore ideas like this to develop linked up approaches to encourage the development of small sustainable enterprises.  Picture: Temo-Thuo Letlotlo