POTENTIALITY OF DAMS THROUGH CAGE FARMING & ECO-TOURISM INDUSTRY IN SPEDU REGION, BOTSWANA  

The SPEDU Region is endowed with the largest number of man-made water bodies in Botswana as well as natural water causeways in the form of rivers. The country's major dams of Thune, Dikgatlhong, Lotsane and Letsibogo and a major secondary dam the Dikabeya constitute over 50% of the countries dams. The Region has identified through SPEDU good potential for a number of small dams (dams with at least 1-million-liter capacity).  The small dams are intended to be used as production sites for various agriculture and mixed used enterprises which include cage farming and eco-tourism industry. The existence of the Mmadinare Fish Hatchery near the Lestibogo Dam also adds on to the long list of areas of comparative advantage. These factors provide a prima facie case for aquaculture production in the SPEDU Region.

Aquaculture in the SPEDU Region as is the case in all of Botswana is at an infant stage and characterized by some uncoordinated ways of doing things, a fragmented institutional landscape, and a dearth of technical expertise, scattered activity in addition to underutilization of resources. Currently, the Government of Botswana (GoB) has realized the potential of developing the sector in a manner which ultimately will accentuate its potential and translate it to economic gain. The various initiatives include investment in aquaculture as a vehicle which will assist to eradicate abject rural poverty, commercialization, development of a baseline value chain study on the sector's development and refurbishment of the Mmadinare Fish Hatchery. An Aquaculture Advisor has also been engaged by the Office of the President (OP) with a mandate to propel the development of the sector and position it as a major contributor to GDP.

In an effort to tap into this opportunity, the SPEDU Region requires a concerted way of ensuring that the opportunity is harnessed through proper resource management. A value chain approach will be invaluable to bringing this ideal to fruition. In addition, there is need to enhance product and market diversity by optimization of resources and opportunities. This presentation proposes the development of a SPEDU Region Master Pan. This would place the Region at a vintage position to explore and exploit opportunities and hence accentuate the potential of the Region to become a flagship hub for aquaculture production in Botswana.

This Master Plan identifies six (6) main focal strategic areas which are;

∙βDevelopment and Implementation of a wide cluster driven aquaculture value chain;

∙βEnhancement of sustainable environmental management of the sector (legal, health, safety, quality, environment)

∙βDevelopment of a knowledge based aquaculture industry

∙βSupporting private sector led growth, promoting entrepreneurship in all stages and components of the value chain

∙βIdentify market access opportunities

∙βRisk, Mitigatio