10 Mar 2020

The National Poverty Eradication Expo continues to grow and evolve from what was a showcase of products of those who benefitted from the programme to the showpiece that it is today.

In an interview, Poverty Eradication National Coordinator, Mr Montshiwa Montshiwa said lessons  drawn from previous expos had helped to improve the programme’s packages.
“Each year we look into what new things to bring,” he said.

He said the first expo in 2018, served to expose beneficiaries’ products for appreciation by Batswana and buyers, while in the next expo, beneficiaries had to compete at district level and excelling ones were selected to showcase their products in Gaborone.

Mr Montshiwa said some of the packages that would be showcased at this year’s showpiece, billed for March 13-14, had been certified by the Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS).

The product certification would deliver three key benefits: extended shelf life, price competitiveness and a larger market share, he said, adding that they now also had a chance to be visible on local retail shops’ shelves, as well as regional and international selling spots.

Mr Montshiwa said the 2020 National Poverty Eradication Expo will be held under the theme: Upscaling the Lives of Batswana Through Sustainable      Entrepreneurship, which was appropriate as the programme was working towards sustainability of those packaged, to ensure their lives improved  and to ultimately graduate from poverty.

He said the programme had also grown to address gaps related to value chain development such as marketing, branding, packaging and ICT applications offered by youth.

Mr Montshiwa said the expo would offer the 140 beneficiaries from across the country, a  platform  to meet, share ideas and showcase products from all the 45 different packages offered under the programme.

He also emphasised that it was important to support local businesses, stressing that small businesses had the potential to grow and contribute to job creation, if adequately supported.

He said government had put in place policies to encourage Batswana and local businesses to buy from the beneficiaries.

The programme, he said, had made remarkable progress in changing the lives of the underprivileged, revealing that last year, 2 094 excelling beneficiaries graduated from the programme.

Meanwhile, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi awarded certificates to 30 of the graduating beneficiaries, at the 2019 National Poverty Eradication Expo, he said, adding that none of those who graduated, has regressed.

As a build up to this year’s expo, he said, the Poverty Eradication office would host a stakeholder breakfast show to solicit ideas on what could be done to ensure the beneficiaries’ products form part of the menu in retail outlets.

“We have invited retailers, trade ministry, researchers and other stakeholders to advise as to what can be done to make the products more appealing,” he said. He further said the failure rate of projects had declined from 4 to 2.3 per cent through the assistance of district authorities, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders.

He said the introduction of indicators such as profiling of the poor, identifying drivers of poverty in a locality and identifying success factors in a given locality had improved the programme.

He said of the over 39 000 projects funded since the inception of the programme in 2011, 30 000 were operational, with 5000 at different stages of implementation and the programme had created over 30 000 jobs. ENDS