## INTRODUCTION 

Kgalagadi District and areas with similar agro-climatic conditions receive very little rainfall. The District and areas with similar agro-climatic conditions are not suitable for arable farming. Therefore, farmers in the District and the areas with similar agro-climatic conditions do not benefit from the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD). However, the District and areas with similar agro-climatic conditions are suitable for livestock production, particularly smallstock (sheep and goats including karakul (Swakara) sheep farming), especially in Kgalagadi South. 

A Special Assistance Programme to Kgalagadi District has been approved. The programme also covers areas of Gantsi, Kweneng West and Western parts of the Southern District which are similar to the Kgalagadi District. 

The special package covers resource-poor beneficiaries who will be assisted with Karakul sheep, ordinary sheep or goats, Tswana chickens/guinea fowls, salt bush fields, pulses and melons production under the conservation agriculture practices and construction of sand dams or equipping of existing boreholes without any contribution by the farmer. 

Farmers who have less than two hundred (200) herd of cattle will be assisted with a 50% grant up to a maximum of P25 000.00 to buy Karakul sheep, ordinary sheep or goats or Tswana chickens/guinea fowls and construction of sand dams or equipping of existing boreholes with a 60% grant up to a maximum of P120 000.00 

## 1. Package for Resource-Poor Beneficiaries: 

The package for this group comprises small stock, Tswana chickens or guinea fowls, salt bush cultivation, production of pulses and melons under conservation agriculture, construction of water retention ponds (sand dams) and equipping of existing boreholes; 

## 1.1 Smallstock 

For small stock, a farmer shall be given 13 female Karakul sheep and 1 Karakul ram or 13 ordinary goats/ sheep and a buck/ram with no contribution demanded from the farmer provided that he/ she has been duly assessed for eligibility by the Community Development Staff of the Council and that the farmer has not benefited from the same programme under either LIMID or the Poverty Eradication Programme; 

## 1.2 Tswana chickens/Guinea fowls 

For Tswana chickens and Guinea fowls, a beneficiary would be given either 25 Tswana chickens (21 females and 4 cocks) or 20 Guinea fowls (16 females plus 4 males, also 4 Tswana female chicken and 1 cock for incubating) without any contributions, provided that he/she has been duly assessed and has previously not benefited from a similar package under either LIMID or the Poverty Eradication Programme; 

## 1.3 Salt bush 

For salt-bush fields, a beneficiary will be supplied with enough seedlings and basal fertilizer to cover 1 hectare and this package may be taken together with the small stock component for complementarity; 

## 1.4 Crop production 

For pulses/melons, the beneficiary would be assisted with training on conservation agriculture, fencing material to fence up to 1 hectare, lablab and cowpeas seed, melon seed and fertilizer to cover up to 1 hectare and technical support and mentoring. In addition, those who produce lablab to support small stock would also be eligible for the small stock component; 

## 1.5 Water development 

For water retention ponds (sand dams) and borehole equipping, resource poor beneficiaries will be assisted as clusters to either construct sand dams or equip a nearby existing borehole for provision of water for livestock. 

## 2. Package for farmers owning up to 200 herd of cattle 

## 2.1 Livestock 

A 50% subsidy on Karakul sheep, ordinary sheep or goats and/or poultry(Tswana chickens or guinea fowls) up to a maximum grant of P25 000.00 on reimbursement basis, provided that the beneficiary owns 200 cattle or less, has duly applied and has been assessed for assistance and has not benefited from the livestock component of LIMID; 

## 2.2 Water Development 

Farmers will be assisted to construct water retention ponds /sand dams or equip existing boreholes, individually and as groups at a 60% subsidy up to a maximum grant of P120 000.00, provided the beneficiary owns 200 cattle or less. 

