BOTSWANA IS BETTING ON OSTRICHES TO SAVE ITS ECONOMY AND DIAMONDS ARE NO LONGER ENOUGH
President Duma Boko visited the Dibete Ostrich Multiplication Unit on Monday. He wants to revive an industry that collapsed years ago. The goal is 6,000 ostriches hatched before the end of the year.
The government facility has already hatched 269 ostriches and distributed them to 29 farmers. The plan is ambitious. Ostrich meat, leather, feathers, eggs, and tourism are all part of the value chain. Botswana has the world’s largest wild ostrich population at about 60,000, but farmed ostriches number fewer than 400.
The industry has failed before. Commercial ostrich farming started in the 1980s. An EU-accredited abattoir was built in 2002. It was supposed to process 30,000 birds a year. It never got close. Farmers struggled with high feed costs, lack of finance, and unreliable supply. The abattoir closed. The industry collapsed.
Now the government is trying again. Funding is available through the Thuo Letlotlo programme. The Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency offers loans. Landboards are being told to identify land for ostrich farming. The government is even trying to change what Batswana eat, urging people to embrace low-cholesterol ostrich meat for their health.
The big challenge is feed. Ostriches require specific nutrition. Most feed is imported from South Africa. Boko wants local farmers to grow sunflower and wheat to supply the industry. He sees this as a chance for entrepreneurs.
The question is whether this attempt will succeed where previous ones failed. The abattoir needs thousands of birds to be profitable. The farmers need reliable feed and markets. The government needs to deliver what it promises.
Ostriches cannot fly. The question is whether Botswana’s economic diversification can.
