08 Aug 2019

Poverty Eradication programme has been reported to be doing well in the Letlhakeng sub-district.

Speaking in an interview with BOPA, poverty eradication coordinator Mr Gaotlhobogwe Kwelagobe said government remained committed to eradicating abject poverty among Batswana.

He said according to the United Nations 2030 Agenda, poverty was a global problem that needed concerted efforts by all to end it. 

He said a UN report on poverty in the world showed that Sub Saharan region was the highest hit at 41 per cent, with about 388.7 million people living in abject poverty.

He said Kweneng district was the hardest hit by poverty at 50.6 per cent. 

This, he said, was a problem that forced government to come up with a programme to help Batswana live above the poverty datum line.

Mr Kwelagobe said the poverty eradication programme should reach all Batswana country wide and the 45 projects under the programme should benefit all who after assessment need to be assisted with the project they have chosen. 

Some of the projects, he noted are backyard gardening, home based laundry, small scale fishing, small stock, tyre services, and tree nursery.

The coordinator said projects were administered by different departments including Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security together with the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism.

He said the poverty eradication matrix report showed that 1770 projects had been funded in the sub-district and of these 1479 were in operation. 

Mr Kwelagobe also said 3032 beneficiaries had been trained while 817 were awaiting training with 971 projects awaiting funding.

He further said of the 3032 beneficiaries trained, 2235 had been trained by the Department of Animal Production while 598 were under the Social and Community Development. 

The poverty eradication coordinator said  challenges included them water scarcity hence shortage of drinking water for livestock and irrigation backyard gardening.

Mr Kwelagobe said lack of commitment by some beneficiaries continued to be a thorn in the flesh, adding that they encourage beneficiaries to remain committed as that would ensure their projects become a success.

He said lack of market was another  challenge they have faced. He said though the programme helped beneficiaries  to find market they are encouraged to market themselves. 

He said they had been allocated P2 million for the 2019/2020 financial year of which 96 per cent had been used. 

He said the bulk of the expenditure was on animal production which stood at more than P1.5 million. Ends