It is no surprise that the agriculture sector contribution to Swaziland’s gross domestic product (GDP) is declining as about 60 million euros-worth of vegetable produce is imported from SA and Mozambique, reports Times of Swaziland.
According to the Central Bank of Swaziland (CBS) governor’s annual monetary policy statement 2013, agriculture and forestry contributed only 1.3% to the country’s GDP.
The E60 million is money spent by the country for the importation of fruits and vegetables per annum, the National Agricultural Marketing Board (NAMBoard) management disclosed. The country imports 20 000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables.
NAMBoard’s CEO, Siphephiso Dlamini, said the country needs more farmers who will extensively venture into commercial farming of the aforesaid agricultural products.
According to Dlamini, potatoes were taking a lion’s share of the money spent in imports of vegetables from Mozambique and SA.
In simple terms, Dlamini said Swaziland imports over 615 000 of 10 kilogram bags of potatoes per year - which cost about E14 million.
