03 Sep 2020

 There has been satisfactory progress across various programmes such as Poverty Eradication and other social protection initiatives such as Ipelegeng, health and wellness programmes.

Presenting the Ministry’s mid-term review of the NDP11 to Parliament, Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Kabo Morwaeng said significant progress had been achieved in dealing with the scourge of poverty nationwide.

He said according to the Botswana Multi-Topic Household Survey Report (BMTHS, 2018) the proportion of people living below the poverty datum line stood at 16.3 per cent.

 The report further showed that rural areas had the highest poverty incidences at 24.2 per cent, followed by urban villages at 13.4 per cent, while cities/towns stood at 9.4 per cent.

Mr Morwaeng said according to the Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID) Impact Evaluation Report of 2017, 71 per cent of the resource-poor beneficiaries under the programme reported that there was a positive impact on their quality of life. 

For example, 76 per cent of beneficiaries reported an increase in the number of assets they have acquired.

He explained that nationally, self-assessed household food insecurity levels fell from 42.5 per cent in 2009/10 to 38.9 per cent in 2015/16 (BMTHS, 2018). He said The Botswana Demographic Survey of 2017 showed a national undernourishment prevalence of 47.7 per cent.

The survey also showed that the percentage of households living in inadequate housing conditions had increased to 39.7 per cent, from 25 per cent estimated by the 2011 Housing and Population Census. 

He said 97 per cent of those targeted under social safety nets had benefited in various social protection programmes. 

“I am also pleased to announce that the Draft National Social Protection Framework (NSPF), Single Social Registry (SSR) and Proxy Means Testing (PMT) were developed to harmonise social protection programmes,” he said. 

The minister said there had also been increased access to education by Orphans and Vulnerable Children. 

He said these interventions had improved livelihoods and restored dignity of vulnerable populations.

He said the Vulnerable Group Feeding Programme continued at both primary schools as well as for targeted populations at health facilities to curb hunger and malnutrition.

With regard to promotion of women-owned businesses, Minister Morwaeng said a total of 358 businesses were supported in 2017/18, while in 2018/19, only 59 businesses benefited.

Out of these, he said 322 were operational, while 58 collapsed and 37 were at various stages of implementation.

“Furthermore, support has also been given to women entrepreneurs to access markets through market-place events.

He said education remained critical in enhancing the quality of life. 

He said performance in the education sector showed that there had to be transition to a high quality education across all levels.

Minister Morwaeng said Botswana was in the process of acceding to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), having satisfied the necessary requirements.

In line with this, the Draft National Disability Framework was being developed to operationalise the UNCRPD. He said according to the 2017 Botswana Demographic Survey, out of an estimated household population of 2 154 863, a total of 90 945 individuals reported disabilities, accounting for a prevalence rate of 4.2 per cent.

At the national level, the minister said females had a higher prevalence rate of disability at 4.7 per cent compared to males at 3.7 per cent.

He said challenges under the education sub-sector included a decline in academic performance throughout the education system, inadequate performance on comparative international education assessments as well as low productivity in the education sector leading to challenges of attaining value for money. Ends