17 Apr 2016

Poverty eradication office has augmented the current 45 alternative packages with additional packages, according to the principal poverty eradication officer, Mr Seno Mokhondo.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Palapye, Mr Mokhondo said the poverty eradication office introduced alternative packages through which people could rear small livestock as well as make backyard gardens, bakeries and other businesses.

He said the poverty eradication office found out that the problem with backyard gardening was insufficient water.He said last year, there was an outbreak of newcastle disease and those who had poultries were affected.

He assured those who lost their chicken to newcastle that government would buy them chickens to continue with the business, adding that only those who reported the cases would benefit.He said beneficiaries who were given a small number of smallstock would be given more stock by end of April.

Despite the challenges faced by the beneficiaries of poverty eradication programmes, Mr Mokhondo requested them to take care of the resources they were helped with.

He urged them not to give up, but to work hard and show that they were capable of doing such businesses.

He said after they found the challenges facing the 45 alternative packages, they also found that beneficiaries lacked market to sell their products and services attributing this to overtrading or providing similar products and services within a little market.

Mr Mokhodo said at the beginning of the year they had a meeting at office of the president to see how they can address the poverty eradication programme to be much productive and they formed a committee and also came up with new business ideas.

He said his office found it necessary to introduce new ideas to the people, encouraging them to undertake production projects that would enable them to make washing powders, soaps, corrugated irons and other things.He said people should group themselves and apply to be helped with the machines making such products.

He said that would create more employment opportunities for many people.He said they have been travelling countries in request for assistance and they met with some people at Durban who can sell them such machines and they made an agreement with them to come to Botswana to make a roadshow that will showcase the machines to the people.

He said the roadshows were proposed to be held at Francistown, Selibe-Phikwe and Palapye where the operation of the machines would be demonstrated to the people. He said people will also be given free training of how to use the machines and the machines will be installed for them for free.

He said they have offered licences to those companies that will provide the production machines for “top 50 business opportunities.”The Acting Senior Council Secretary for Palapye Administration Authority, Mr Goloswang Ramogala emphasized that one of the factors leading to overtrade in Botswana is that Batswana have the problem of setting higher prices which lead to the failure of their products.

He also encouraged team work and formation of corporations. He said if Batswana would have stick with ideas of corporations while they had such opportunities, they would have prospered. He encouraged the teamwork for Botswana to be productive. END