Committee :

Topic : Modernizing Agricultural System to Achieve Food Security

Country : Botswana

Botswana believed that poverty and inequality is still Africa’s great nightmare until today,
therefore it is a serious problem that should be not only African countries but also world priority
to be solved. This objectives cited in article 1, paragraph 3 of the WTO Charter, namely: "To
achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social,
cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights
and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion."
Africa has been facing problems like the difficulty of access to basic resource, climate and
natural disaster. Those problems lead into our focus which is modernizing agricultural system to
achieve food security. Expert like Justin Yifu Lin also said that one of the central goals of every
developing country is to reach high-income status and thus agriculture plays a critical role in
transforming economies to reach the goal, along with achieving other essential development
goals like ensuring food security and improving nutrition. Therefore, in order to end hunger and
under-nutrition while accelerating economic growth, agricultural transformation must become a
reality. As while on the other hand Botswana is a country that still growing in terms of economy
and technology, with mineral taxation, mainly focused on rich diamond mining industry, has
enabled the Government to improve basic infrastructure, such as transportation and
telecommunication networks, and social services, such as education and health. Yet we are still
struggling our best to escape the high ratings for food security index due to our lack information
of the latest strategies and technologies especially in agriculture. Due to these circumstances
happened in Botswana, and mostly in any other African countries, we addresses 3 main
problems:
1. The lack of coordination on international level among African countries and other region
countries which held so much potential on giving new point of view in tackling the
issues.
2. The lack concentration of the government due to the mining project which is looking
more promisingly “beneficial” compared to agriculture.
3. The lack of information, knowledge, and technologies on how to cultivate such area.
Botswana believes that progress in tackling the food security in matters of modernizing
agricultural sectors is a shared responsibility for all the relevant actors. We proposed some
concrete solutions that is expected to propel progress in enhancing the modernization of
agricultural system in Africa to fight back malnutrition and furthermore to prosper the people of
Africa including people of Botswana itself, among others :

1. Creating a sustain meeting among African countries focused on providing solutions in

each countries coagulated new policies with international organization backing up.
2. Managing the cooperation and development programs done by each parties through the
African Union or United Nations for its surveillance.
3. Synergy between countries facilitated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations and also Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme
(CAADP) in managing, acommodating and distributing donations.
4. Encourage any other countries which already advanced in terms of agriculture to share
the knowledge and technologies into the forum.
5. Enhancing human resources in Africa as the manager of natural resources by increasing
youth interest in school and education quality.
Botswana as a country that had to face poverty issues, is hoping good cooperation with other
countries in achieving progress, which will not only impact in the Africa, but also for the entire
world. Furthermore, we hope that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
could facilitate all countries in resolving these problems in order to create progress in achieving
the stability on food security, that if it can benefit many parties.

References:
UN FAO - Food Security Index . 2017. Coefficient of Variation (CV) in per capita caloric intake,
1990 to 2014. [ONLINE] available at: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/coefficient-of-
variation-cv-in-per-capita-caloric-intake?tab=chart&country=~BWA.
Lin, Justin. 2018. Agriculture is key for economic transformation, food security, and nutrition.
[Online] available at: https://www.ifpri.org/blog/agriculture-key-economic-
transformation-food-security-and-nutrition
UN Food and Agriculture Organization. 2017. Share of population with severe food insecurity,
2015 to 2017. [Online] available at: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-
population-with-severe-food-insecurity?tab=chart&country=~BWA.
Tladi-Sekgwama. 2018. An overview of agricultural extension in Botswana and needed reforms.
[Online] available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332755055_An_overview_of_agricultural_exte
nsion_in_Botswana_and_needed_reforms.
FAO. 2005. BOTSWANA: Support to NEPAD–CAADP Implementation. Volume I of VII
NATIONAL MEDIUM TERM INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
WTO. 2020. Trade Preferential Agreements. [PDF] Available at:
https://www.gobotswana.com/trade-preferential-agreements