Levels of poverty decreased in Botswana in 2007

A new United Nations report says that the percentage of people in Botswana living in poverty decreased during the year 2007. Of course, these statistics were gathered before the global economic recession, but it shows what may have been undone during 2008 and 9.

From Mmegi Online we read this breakdown of poverty levels in Southern Africa.

The 2009 Human Development Index (HDI) report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) shows that with a U$13,000 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita - the highest in Africa - Botswana has managed to reduce the number of people living under US$2 a day from 55 percent to 49 percent of the population as the country continues to fair poorly in human development.

The figure compares poorly with South Africa, which has 42 percent of its population living on less than US$2 a day, and favourably with Namibia, which is at 62 percent.
The report, which uses 2007 data before the financial crisis, says Botswana is placed at position 125 out of 185 countries in the study; from position 124 out of 177 countries last year.

South Africa is at position 129 from last year's 121, while Namibia is at position 128.
Other African countries ranked ahead of Botswana in terms of human development such as Gabon, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria have nearly half as much GDP per capita, a development which suggests Botswana's inadequate efforts in turning resources into poverty alleviation.

According to the UNDP, the HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).

According to the report, the life expectancy of a Motswana at birth is 53 years compared to South Africa's 51 years and Namibia's 60 years. On education, 82 percent of Batswana are able to read and write, compared with South Africa and Namibia at 88 percent each.

The report says that as measured by the Human Poverty Index (HPI), 22.9 percent of Botswana's 2 million people live below minimum threshold levels in each of the dimensions of the human development index. South Africa's HPI is at 25 percent while Namibia's is at 17 percent.

Forced marriages in Botswana

Although teenage pregnancy does not doom one to a life of poverty. It does make it harder, and when your in a developing country it could be next to impossible.

In the country of Botswana teenage pregnancies and forced marriages are widespread. Sometimes teenage pregnancies can involve teachers impregnating students.

A workshop in Botswana put on by the Women’s Affairs Department issues a statement of the effect of this social ill.

from theDaily News Online Botswana

An official from the Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNYC), Mr Emmanuel Galeboe, said there was an alarming rate of inter generational sex in the region, which also leads to impoverishment of the girl child.

He said most of the young people involved in this cross generation sex end up either pregnant or infected with the HIV.

Since the beginning of the year, close to 1 200 have dropped out of school because of pregnancy in the Ngamiland region.

One participant, Ms Magrate Mhlanga, said some cultures in northern Botswana were known to practice under-age marriages, where girls were forced out of school to be married by older men.

“This issue needs to be addresses, but I don’t know how,” she said.

Most of those married at young ages become subjects of their husbands and do not participate in any decision making regarding the family.

The Face of Poverty

from All Africa

Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)

By Onalenna Modikwa
Selebi-Phikwe

The plea for assistance of any sort is plain on the desperate faces of the destitute Motlhabane family of Botshabelo Township.

The situation is so pathetic that the signs of surrender to the biting economic times are evident to every passer-by.

The two makeshift structures that could collapse any time are home to the 24 family members. Two family members died and the other one was buried in July this year. Their parents - father and mother - passed away in 1992 and 1996 respectively.

Upon entering their unfenced yard, one is greeted by a broken plastic chair, which was once white, but has since become dark brown. The hope for a moment of happiness from a stranger who enters the home painfully fades away as the family members learn that the 'Samaritan' has not come to deliver any good news of assistance.

Eventually 27-year-old Dikeledi Motlhabane narrates the painful story of every orphaned and poverty-stricken family. One thing particularly worrying is that she is also pregnant and is due for delivery in January next year. But the conditions in the home are not conducive to welcome the newborn baby.

"Our mother originated from Bobonong while our father was from Sefhophe but we were born and bred in Selebi-Phikwe. We even do not know the relatives of our mother but we know some from our father's side," added her elder sister, Elina.

As such, the possibility of the family fleeing the biting effects of poverty to their home village is non-existent. None of the family members is working and others stay at the cattlepost. They are sometimes rescued by the piece jobs that they are able to lay their hands on.

The room that they mostly rely on for accommodation is worn out without a proper door and is also used as a kitchen. Big logs serve as rafters and on top of them are loosely placed iron sheets with large stones on top to prevent them from flying away during harsh weather conditions. The other one that stands next to the 'kitchen' is just hollow on the other side was broken by the recent storms but it is still used as a bedroom.

An old bed is visible through the wall and the broken door. The roofing is also similar to the first house. The two houses are made from clay bricks, which have been weather-beaten.

There is no toilet so family members relieve themselves in the nearby bushes and not very far from Boitumelo Primary School. There is no potable water, and they fetch it from the remaining standpipe after others were closed down.

"We just go to the bush, all of us, and we have never been approached by council officials to alert us about the various environmental concerns. There is nowhere else we can go."

Motlhabane said as the council is expected to close down all the standpipes next year, their situation will be worse and that they cannot make any contingency plans because such plans come with costs.

The family eats once in a day and they rely on one food basket that is given to the four school-going children. Motlhabane noted that life is very tough because even the basket lasts for only two weeks and then they are left to fend for themselves. She added that they couldn't cook more than once in a day because they economise on the meagre food basket so that it does not run out quickly. She stated that the situation adversely affects the school-going children who are the main beneficiaries of the food basket but nothing can be done.

"Our school-going children were initially given school uniforms by the council but it stopped last year without any explanation so we are struggling to provide. Each one fends for her children. Similar situations happen when the festive season approaches and children need new clothes. Those who could not be bought new clothes because of lack of money will have their turn next time."

She, however, said they are not just folding their arms as they go out every morning to search for jobs to try and make ends meet. When the rain comes, the family requests their neighbours to accommodate their children in fear that the collapsing walls could injure or even kill them.

"The council is very much aware of our plight. Any form of help from the public, private companies, commercial banks and even the government sector will be highly appreciated. They should look into our desperate faces and have compassion or pity for us."

We lead the pack in poverty reduction - Mogae

from Mmegi Online

BRIAN BENZA
STAFF WRITER

Poverty levels are expected to fall to an all time low of 23 percent by 2009 on the back of continued economic growth which has earned Botswana rave reviews as Africa's leader in poverty reduction, President Festus Mogae said in Parliament.

In his State of the Nation address on Monday, Mogae stated that economic growth, which averaged nine percent during the country's first four decades and now hovers around four percent, has pulled down poverty levels from as high as almost 60 percent two decades ago.

"Continued economic growth has contributed to a steady reduction in poverty from 59 percent in 1986 to 47 percent in 1994 to our latest figure of 30 percent," President Mogae said.

"Our progress has earned us the accolade of being a leader in poverty reduction. But clearly we still have some way to go."

As a manifestation of the reduced poverty levels, Mogae pointed out factors such as increased access to basic education, access to clean water, more infrastructure development and increased access to electricity. In the speech, which was his last national address before he retires next year, Mogae could not resist being thrilled by having been the main driving force behind Botswana's economic achievements, which are the envy of much of the developing world and the admiration of the more advanced economies.

The country's economic performance has received recognition from various international bodies including the Would Economic Forum, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, The World Bank, The United Nations Commission for Africa, the Heritage Foundation, Wall Street Journal, Standard and Poor's and Moody's Investors Services. "Where possible, we have sought to take advantage of such favourable comparative ratings in order to market our potential," the President said. "Leaders from Botswana, including myself, are periodically asked to share our country's experience with others.

"We have accepted this not because we wish to brag about our achievements, but in the enlightened self-interest of selling our country's potential."

But, said Mogae, such achievements need to be followed up; it is for this reason that government had set up marketing and investment arms such as the Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA), the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and the Botswana Tourism Board. He noted that in its nine years of existence, BEDIA had raked in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth over P400 million.

Mining has been the largest contributor to the economic growth as mineral revenues have risen from P4 billion in 1997 to P13.3 billion in 2006.

Mogae said there were numerous efforts being put in place to diversify the economy and to empower Batswana. Among institutions championing this cause were the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) and Local Enterprise Authority (LEA).

The President also touched on the issue of privatisation and expressed government's commitment to it as spelled out in the Privatisation Policy Master Plan.

"If we delay the process of privatisation of public enterprises whose services can be better performed by the private sector, we will be doing ourselves a great disservice.

"Whilst privatisation will, at times, entail short-term costs, such as retrenchments, we must not be oblivious to its long-term benefits in terms of efficiency, sustainable employment, as well as higher quality services," Mogae said.

Poverty Can Be Eradicated - EFB

from All Africa

The Voice (Francistown)

NEWS

The Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana (EFB) has called on Batswana to familiarize themselves and utilize platforms geared towards poverty eradication and improving the standard of living.

In commemorating the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Wednesday, October 17, EFB secretary general, Pastor Owen Isaacs, explained that his organisation would participate in the Global Call to Action Against Poverty's initiative: "Stand Up And Speak". He said the initiative involved people all over the world standing up to remind their Governments of the commitments they undertook in the 2000 Millennium Declaration to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.

And in observing this day, Isaacs pointed out that while poverty is still a major concern, "the EFB acknowledges all the progress that our government has made to date towards achieving the goals. The EFB would like to request the government to continue to partner with the civil society and to re-double efforts towards achieving more that the standard set by the 2000 Millennium Declaration."

With this in mind, the EFB further called on Batswana to familiarize themselves with the Millennium Development Goals and to participate in the efforts to achieving them as well as our nation's Vision 2016. "If Batswana participate in these efforts they would be better placed to make government to account. The EFB is confident that poverty can be eradicated in this nation. May the Good Lord bless all of us during this day."

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been observed every year since 1993, when the General Assembly, by resolution 47/196, designated this day to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries, particularly in developing countries - a need that has become a development priority.

At the Millennium Summit, world leaders committed themselves to cutting by half by the year 2015 the number of people living in extreme poverty - people whose income is less than one dollar a day.

The theme for this year's International Day for the Eradication of Poverty; "Working together out of poverty", highlighted the need for a truly global anti-poverty alliance, one in which both developed and developing countries participate actively.

Botswana: Poverty Persists Despite Growth

from All Africa

Inter Press Service (Johannesburg)

Joel Konopo
Gaborone

Despite Botswana's high rate of economic growth over the past two decades, it is unlikely that the country will halve the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day by 2015. However, significant progress has been made towards halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger.

Botswana's average economic growth has been more than seven percent over the past 20 years. Per capita gross domestic product figures show an increase from about 1,600 dollars in 1980 to almost 10,000 dollars today.

However, according the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 47 percent of the population live below the poverty line of a dollar per day. Half of female-headed households live on less than one dollar a day.

Dorcus Sebina of the UNDP is positive that the Botswana authorities are committed to the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include halving poverty and hunger by 2015. A recent UNDP report states that Botswana is showing potential for long term growth that will raise standards of living.

The UNDP believes that it is "likely" that Botswana will reach the target of halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015. The proportion of children under five who are underweight was reduced from 17 percent to 13 percent between 1996 and 2000, according to Botswana's Central Statistics Office.

Over the same period the proportion of children under five who are too thin for their age was reduced from 11 to five percent, while the proportion of under-fives who are too short for their age dropped from 29 to 23 percent.

But ordinary Batswana are less optimistic about developmental progress in their country. For Thomson Tekere, a taxi driver in the capital of Gaborone, the picture looks bleak. "Nothing has changed. Many people are still marginalised and ignored in rural areas."

For him, the recent history of the Basarwa (San people) in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve exemplifies the problem. The government's decision to force the Basarwa out of the reserve has recently been reversed through legal action, but he still feels they do not have much of a future.

Neo Moreri, also a Gaborone resident, agrees. "People living in remote areas will never enjoy the fruits of economic development in this country."

"Progress is slow," says David Morwang of SOS Children's Villages, an orphanage located in Tlokweng, a small village a few kilometres east of Gaborone. While poverty was more widespread in Botswana before 1990, authorities still lack strategies for integrating poor rural communities into the mainstream economy.

This view is shared by the European Union (EU) in its report "EU Strategy For Africa" released in February 2006. The document identifies Botswana as one of the countries in which the rural poor are particularly marginalised.

Changing this picture will require sustained action over the next decade, argues Modireemang Klass, chairperson of Molepolole Village Development Community in the south-eastern part of the country.

Klass argues that political commitment is vital to change levels of inequality in Botswana. These levels are striking given Botswana's status as an upper middle-income country.

According to the UNDP, the poorest 20 percent of the population get a measly four percent of the total national income. The richest 20 percent of Batswana earn almost 60 percent of the total national income. The unemployment rate is also high, at almost 16 percent.

It seems economic development has mostly benefited the politicians, professional people and civil servants. This also explains the high level of inequality, writes Ian Taylor, an academic who has studied development in Botswana, in the 2003 book 'Limits to Liberation in Southern Africa'.

The urban-rural divide exacerbates inequality. Four out of five households in rural areas are still dependent on income from a family member in the urban areas. About one-fifth of rural households do not have any income source that statisticians could discern, writes Taylor.

The difference in the level of access to resources means that development outcomes still vary considerably between rural and urban centres. That is why people like Morwang and Klass doubt that Botswana will achieve the MDG on eradicating poverty and hunger.

They feel that it would be a major achievement for Botswana to reach a poverty level by 2015 which is lower than that of 1990.

In contrast, Pedzani Malikongwa, a vendor in Gaborone, argues that most Batswana are lazy and over-reliant on government.

"We should work hard and stop complaining. Government is doing its part. Who else can afford to give you money for free just because you have aged?" she asks with reference to the government pension of about 154 pula (about 20 dollars) for people over the age of 65.