By Vida Booysen
Botswana lifted its short-term ban on the import of certain South African grains and grasses on Friday, 24 January. The lifting is effective immediately and follows intensive negotiations last week between the South African Department of Agriculture and its counterpart in Botswana to find a solution to the problem and reopen the border.
This import ban was imposed on 16 January after the occurrence of the new disease, Goss bacterial wilt and leaf blight, was reported on 14 January in South African maize. The host plants for this disease include maize, wheat, sorghum, sugarcane and certain grasses, such as Sudan grass. These are therefore some of the agricultural crops on which the import ban was imposed.
One of the factors that was decisive in the lifting of the ban on grains is the fact that the new disease is mainly spread by maize seed and not by grain. But the import permits that have already been issued for the import of maize seed into Botswana have still been cancelled, according to Lotseng Sebetwane, acting director of plant health in Botswana. “The import of maize seed will be carried out under revised conditions and customers are therefore advised to apply for new import permits.”
John Steenhuisen, South African Minister of Agriculture, fought hard from Davos, Switzerland last week to lift the import ban. “Botswana imports an average of about 5 000 tonnes of maize and 1 000 tonnes of wheat per week from South Africa. The continuation of this flow of grain from South Africa to Botswana is essential for food security in that country.”
However, it is not only grain imports from South Africa that have been banned, but also fruits such as papayas, kiwifruit and coconuts. This is because another plant disease, bud rot (Phytophthora palmivora), occurs in South Africa but has not yet been found in Botswana. According to Sebetwane, an investigation into the disease still needs to be completed and therefore the import permits for these products remain cancelled. No palms may be exported from South Africa to Botswana.
