16 May 2021

Japan has donated P3.5 million to Botswana Red Cross Society for its food security and livelihood programme in districts.

Botswana Red Cross in collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent Societies (IFRC), through the programme, aim to help people affected by natural disasters in districts.

Speaking during the launch of the tripartite partnership between Botswana Red Cross Society, IFRC and the Embassy of Japan on Wednesday, Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Setlhabelo Modukanele said the programme would reduce food and nutrition insecurity in communities.

He noted that drought had become persistent, making communities and households vulnerable and food insecure. He also noted that it had resulted in government putting a substantial amount of money to assist affected households with food as well as subsidies for livestock and sometimes even wildlife.

“Government alone cannot succeed and needs the participation of stakeholders such as development partners and civil society,” he said.

Mr Modukanele said his ministry had come up with a transformation strategy in an effort to address the objectives of government brought about by emerging challenges.

The assistant minister said he was delighted that Botswana Red Cross had come with interventions to assist some households in the Central, Southern, North West, South East and North East districts with food baskets and agricultural inputs for horticultural gardens.

He said the introduction of horticultural gardens would encourage food production at the household level. He noted that some of the money they would have used to buy vegetables would now be used to cater for other household needs. 

“The nutritional status of households will also be improved,” he said.

He said he had been informed that the Japanese Embassy had committed to assist with resources and partner with Botswana Red Cross in order to take the programme to even greater heights.

Mr Modukanele said if the horticultural project was successful it would assist government in its objective of making communities resilient by 2023.

He thanked the Japanese goverment for aiding Batswana despite COVID-19 negatively affecting all countries.

“This partnership could not have been more appropriate because of the urgency to go beyond poverty reduction and the need to focus on building resilience, investing in all Batswana so that they can contribute meaningfully to and share in the benefits of growth,” he said.

Mr Modukanele urged the tripartite partners to continue the efforts beyond the initiative, saying government pledged its full support going forward.

For his part, the Japanese Ambassador to Botswana, Mr Hoshiyama Takashi commended IFRC for the will to help the most affected districts and people.He said the donation would complement measures by government to help affected areas and people.

He said natural disasters were devastating and inevitable, adding that Japan as a disaster-prone country had always provided emergency aid to developing countries which suffered from natural disasters.

Botswana Red Cross secretary general, Mr Kutlwano Mukokomani said the Japanese support was aimed at increasing the society’s district coverage and to continue reducing food and nutrition insecurity in communities caused by natural hazards and compounded by COVID-19. ends