Background and objectives: Different communities have various types of edible plants at their nearby ecology from which they process their traditional foods that make the basis of diversified diets for food and nutrition security. Exploration of various ethnic traditional foods knowledge will have an immense contribution for preservation and sustainability of the traditional food system and culture. The objectives of this research were to investigate and document the edible plant type used and description on the processing of plant-based traditional foods/dishes and beverages of the Ramotswa village, Botswana. Majority of the Ramotswa village residents belong to the Balete tribe. Methodology: Questionnaire interviews and focus group discussions (FGD) were used in the documentations of edible plants type, methods involved in the processing, values, challenges, and the seasonal availability. Results and discussion: There are 50 wild edible plants used and most are available during rainy season. Maize, sorghum, beans, cooking melon, watermelon, and pumpkin are widely used domesticated crops. The edible part of wild plants is utilized in different ways. Some consumed after minor processing and some as cooked, boiled, recipe in traditional dishes, inoculum in fermentation, substrate in traditional beverages, and medicinal plants. Food safety concerns were indicated for few products. High temperature and shortage of rainfall are making some edible plants scarce. For some, preparation takes a long time; and when processing is not properly done, unpleasant odor, bitter taste, and mold growth can result, particularly for traditional beverages. Even though, most traditional foods/dishes and beverages are still consumed and enjoyed by the communities, there are worries that the young generation has limited knowledge and skills to process and utilize them. Conclusions: Most plant-based traditional foods/dishes consumed are low in sugar and fat, but are wholesome (whole grains, with dietary fibers) with high potential for diet diversification. The documentation provided will help to create awareness for preservation of the traditional foods/dishes and beverage culture, and as a baseline information for further studies for those nutrient and bioactive compound data are not available.
The low inherent soil fertility, especially nitrogen (N) constrains arable agriculture in Botswana. Nitrogen is usually added to soil through inorganic fertilizer application. In this study, biological nitrogen fixation by legumes is explored as an alternative source of N. The objectives of this study were to measure levels of N2 fixation by grain legumes such as cowpea, Bambara groundnut and groundnut in farmers’ fields as well as to estimated N2 fixation by indigenous herbaceous legumes growing in the Okavango Delta. Four flowering plants per species were sampled from the panhandle part of the Okavango Delta and Tswapong area. Nitrogen fixation was measured using the 15N stable isotope natural abundance technique. The δ15N values of indigenous herbaceous legumes indicated that they fixed N2 (−1.88 to +1.35 ‰) with the lowest value measured in Chamaecrista absus growing in Ngarange (Okavango Delta). The δ15N values of grain legumes growing on farmers’ fields ranging from −1.2 ‰ to +3.3 ‰ indicated that they were fixing N2. For grain legumes growing at most farms, %Ndfa were above 50% indicating that they largely depended on symbiotic fixation for their N nutrition. With optimal planting density, Bambara groundnuts on farmers’ fields could potentially fix over 90 kg N/ha in some parts of Tswapong area and about 60 kg N/ha in areas around the Okavango Delta. Results from this study have shown that herbaceous indigenous legumes and cultivated legumes play an important role in the cycling of N in the soil. It has also been shown that biological N2 on farmer’s field could potentially supply the much needed N for the legumes and the subsequent cereal crops if plant densities are optimized with the potential to increase food security and mitigate climate change.
<p>The purpose of the study was to investigate factors perceived to contribute to the decline of students’ performance in the Botswana’s General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) agriculture results. Ninety-one agriculture examiners were randomly sampled out of 100 teachers who were invited to mark the 2012 end of year examination scripts. A questionnaire was mailed by post and partly hand delivered to gather quantitative data. The SPSS software was used for statistical analysis. The results showed that majority (57%) of the agriculture teacher examiners were male, 66% were in the age range of 31-35 years old. A large proportion (66%) of them had taught for a period of 6 to 15 years. The study revealed positive perceptions of teachers on three constructs influencing the decline on the students’ performance in agriculture. The study revealed that under the construct,<em> Students’ behaviors, social and economic related factors, students attitudes towards the subject </em>yielded high mean (x̅)‘= 4.45<em>,</em> STD (σ) ’ = .81;<em> on Factors related to curriculum issues, </em>the study sho<em>we</em>d<em> </em><em>“</em><em>interpretation of examination items</em><em>”</em><em> </em>had high mean<em> </em>(x̅) ‘= 4.39<em>,</em> STD (σ) = .75 and under the construct on <em>Factors related to resources and infrastructure </em>the mean (x̅) was = 4.79<em>,</em> STD (σ) = <em>.53 </em>was high on the <em>student teacher ratio. </em>The study concluded that the three constructs studied had influence towards students’ performance in agriculture. However, based on interpretational correlations the results did not find any strong relationship among the demographic variables studied.</p>
The need to improve the competitiveness of smallholder livestock owners in Botswana was studied through Training Need Assessment (TNA) with the aim of strengthening the capacity of agricultural education and extension in the livestock sector. TNA was conducted in selected areas of Botswana namely, Mogobane, Boatle and Taung villages in the SouthEast District as well as Serowe, Bobonong, Nata and Letlhakane in the Central District of Botswana. A simple random sampling method was used to select 395 smallholder livestock farmers. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a questionnaire and focus group discussions respectively. Quantitative data was analysed using means (and standard deviations). The results from focus groups were based on the coding of themes that emerged from the discussions. The results show that smallholder livestock farmers were lacking knowledge and skill in some of the following topics: Farm records and accounts; artificial insemination; feeds and feeding which include nutritional diseases and range management. It is recommended that livestock marketing, which is an important component in livestock production, be integrated into all livestock extension training programmes. Furthermore, the inclusion of diagnosis of livestock diseases, vaccination and borehole maintenance is also recommended.
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