Competitive Smallholder Livestock in
Botswana
Presentation by Sirak Bahta at an inception workshop for the Competitive Smallholder Livestock in Botswana
project held at Gaborone, Botswana on 31 October 2012

Workshop goals
 Understand competitiveness of
smallholder livestock
 Answer the questions:
1. What can be done to raise
competitiveness?
2. Who should do it?
3. What partnerships are available to
this project?

Workshop tasks: re-phrased
WHO SHOULD DO WHAT?
DIRECTIONS FOR THE PROJECT?
WHO WE WORK WITH & HOW?

Competitive Smallholder Livestock in
Botswana
Dr Sirak Bahta
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

Outline
 Introduction
 Research questions
 Objectives
 Work plan
 Partners
 Collaborating Institutions

Motivation
Botswana smallholder sector:
• produces most of Botswana’s meat
• provides 70-80% of agricultural GDP
• uses significant land and water resources
50,000 to 80,000 smallholders own (most of the country’s) cattle
100,000 smallholders own sheep and goats

Motivation
Cattle
• Average <220 kg (even with 4-5 year oxen)
• <50% calving rates
• <20% off-take by the commercial export slaughter
sector
• growing, multiple domestic market
• promotion of specific production and marketing models
• capacity-building initiatives
Sheep and goats… thought to…
• be of low productivity
• feature little value addition
• have interactions with cattle
(at farm level, at input service level, amongst
traders, in the retail meat market)

Motivation
A research project
Existing research:
• focused on exports
• focused on beef
• focused on production
This project aims to enhance the competitiveness of
smallholder livestock producers in Botswana

Research questions
• Who are the smallholder livestock producers
and what factors constrain their livelihoods?
• How can livestock-related marketing systems be
improved for the benefit of smallholders and
the rural population?

Objectives
 To better define smallholder livestock
production systems, identify the factors
affecting their productivity, and assess their
competitiveness.
 To understand and improve conditions for
market participation and value addition in
markets for livestock, livestock products and
inputs.
 To strengthen agricultural education and
extension capacity.

Work plan
Late 2012
 Reach consensus on competitiveness and factors
affecting it
 Assess animal health
problems and raise local
animal health capacity
 Initial data collection on value chains

Work plan
2013 –2014
 Characterize the smallholder livestock producer
 Assess product and input markets
 Assess competitiveness and
factors affecting it
 Prioritize animal diseases and responses
 Formulate responses to constraints, productivity
and livelihood generation

Work plan
2014 – 2015
 Provide policy analysis and communications
 Assess training and education
 Develop training methods and materials
 Train trainers

Partners
 International Livestock Research
Institute (ILRI)
 Botswana Ministry of Agriculture
 Australian Center for International
Agricultural Research (ACIAR)

Collaborating institutions
 Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA)
 Department of Agricultural Research
 Department of Veterinary Sciences
 Botswana College of Agriculture (BCA)
 Department of Agribusiness Promotion
 Department of Agricultural Statistics

Thank you

What is competitiveness?
• It is the ability to compete
• It is multidimensional (can be measured different ways)
• It can be analyzed at 3 inter-related levels –
– Country
– Industry
– Firm
17

What is competitiveness?
• Firm level competitiveness
 Sustained market participation (domestic and foreign)
 Operates more efficiently/effectively than other firms
• Traded sector: international markets
• Non-traded sector: comparisons to world's best
(cost, quality).
18

What is competitiveness?
• Industry level competitiveness
The nation‘s firms vs…
• Country’s competitiveness
The ability of the nation's citizens to achieve a high and
rising standard of living.
19

Drivers of competitiveness
At the firm level
Decisions made by managers
Use of factors of Take advantage of
production existing opportunities
Application of technology Develop new opportunities
& management skills through value adding
Technical efficiencies Marketing success
Cost of production Firm revenue
20

Agri-Food
firm/industry
competitiveness also affected
by factors that are:
Controlled by Semi-
Government: Controllable:
Input costs
Macro, investment &
Trade policy Demand conditions
Education/training Information flows
R & D Policy International trade
environment
Regulation & infrastructure
Multilateral and regional
Strategic alliances
Uncontrollable: agreements
Environment
21

Measures of competitiveness
Firm level
• Traded sector
• profitability
• export quotient (exports or foreign sales divided by output), and
• market share (regional or global)
[In the traded sector, performance in the international marketplace provides a direct
measure of the firm's competitiveness]
• Non-traded sector
• profitability
• cost
• quality
• indirect measures
[In the non-traded sector there is no direct market performance test]
22

Measures of competitiveness
• Industry level
• Aggregate profitability
• Aggregate Value Added
• Trade balance
• Foreign direct investment
• Cost
• Quality
• Aggregate productivity
23

Measures of competitiveness
• Country level
• Level, growth of standard of living
• Level and growth of aggregate
productivity
• International market performance
24

Measures of competitiveness for
smallholder farmers
• Relative competitiveness
– Cost/profit efficiency
• Benchmarking
– productivity, profitability
– liquidity and solvency
• Value Chain Analysis
• Enterprise budget analysis