09 Dec 2015

Sound government policies and programmes are responsible for the ‘remarkable’ reduction in poverty at national level, says the Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Dikgang Makgalemele.

Making a keynote address during the launch of a report on Botswana Poverty Assessment study, Mr Makgalemele explained that the national poverty headcount rate has been showing a decline for more than 30 years, going down from 59 per cent in 1983/84 to 30.6 per cent in 2002/03, and further down to 19.4 per cent in 2009/10. 

On Tuesday (December 8) afternoon in Gaborone, the World Bank launched a report which indicated that the number of poor people in Botswana declined by nearly 180 000 between 2002/03 and 2009/10.

The report, prepared by the World Bank in collaboration with Statistics Botswana on request by the Poverty Eradication Coordination Unit of Office of the President, found that thousands of Batswana rose out of poverty thanks to increased growth in rural areas driven in part by rising agricultural incomes and welfare improvements.

The assistant minister said, “at the time of independence Botswana was classified as one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, and is now, half a century ahead, classified as one of the high middle income countries.  Poverty reduction in rural areas where poverty rate was higher is much faster than that in urban areas. Therefore, we see a trend of reduced inequality in poverty at national level which is encouraging.” 

He said the remarkable reduction in poverty was a result of sustained robust economic growth over the past few decades and sound government policies and programmes that ensure the benefits of economic growth trickle down to the whole strata of the society.

Mr Makgalemele said the World Bank report has projected that poverty levels would continue to drop and less than 15 per cent Batswana would live below the poverty datum line by 2018.

The report has put abject poverty figures at 6.4 per cent in 2009/10, stressing that government aims to have eradicated abject poverty in 2017, he added.

“Poverty eradication has been and continues to be a top priority for government. The government has set a target to eradicate abject poverty by March 2017. It is therefore pleasing to note that poverty eradication efforts by government continue to yield results,” the assistant minister said.

To stress his point, Mr Makgalemele stated that 18 145 packages under the poverty eradication programme have to date been delivered to 18 993 beneficiaries, and out of this number 13 409 projects are operational and generating enough income to help beneficiaries graduate from extreme poverty.

“In fact, more than 952 operational projects are success stories generating income more than what was projected in the business model. Government will therefore continue to fund the programme, with a view to assisting more deserving citizens,” Mr Makgalemele said.

He urged more Batswana to take advantage of existing government programmes geared towards improving their livelihoods.

Meanwhile, co-ordinator of Poverty Eradication in the Office of the President, Mr Olebile Gaborone said 87 per cent of the decrease in poverty occurred in rural areas, where 158 000 people rose out of poverty. 

“Tackling poverty is at the heart of our National Development Plan. We are pleased to see that our welfare programmes have improved the lives of many and made a dent in poverty levels,” Mr Gaborone said.

 The report said increased agriculture incomes strongly supported by government subsidies and substantial changes in the demographic structure including the reductions in household sizes and dependency ratios were responsible for Botswana’s poverty reduction. 

It found that the decrease in the incidence of poverty was accompanied by a significant decline in both the depth and severity of poverty. 

According to World Bank senior economist Mr Victor Sulla, the level of inequality in Botswana is the world’s third highest, after South Africa and Seychelles. The report further found that large numbers of people still live just marginally above the poverty line and at risk of falling back into poverty. Ends