26 Oct 2022

Demographic analysis can help provide a basis for understanding the present state of communities as well as give an idea of the direction in which they are headed.

District Officer Development in the Serowe Administration Authority (SAA) Ms Thato Peter said this at a workshop on undertaking local economy assessments and developing Local Economic Development (LED) strategies in Serowe on Monday.

Ms Peter said demographic analysis could also be a powerful tool for tracking change over time and for uncovering the needs and strengths of a community, which would then help guide planning, policy development or decision making.

Ms Peter however said demographic analysis was critical when dealing with development as it provided a profile of who one would be dealing with.

“When we undergo demographics we look at characteristics such as race, gender, income, birth rate and death rate, to establish the target market”, she added.

Further highlighting the importance of demographic analysis, Ms Peter noted for instance that the density of a population within a specific area determined the volume of goods and services to be provided.

Moreover, she said the analysis, which ordinarily varied from village to village, could influence the growth rate of the economy, structural productivity growth, living standards, consumption of goods and services as well as the depth of investment in specific localities.

She pointed out that the LED strategy was shaped by demographic analysis, hence all stakeholders should take part in demographic exercises.

On the other hand, Mr Kabelo Mogwera, a physical planner in SAA highlighted that for the LED strategy to be successful, communities needed not only have resources at their disposal but should be equipped with the knowledge of how to properly leverage the existence of such resources.

He cited minerals, physical, financial and institutional capital as some such resources which needed to be put in full and effective use in order to develop communities.

Mr Mogwera challenged stakeholders to research about resources available in their respective areas and benchmark on how best they could be used for the good of their people.

This workshop was organised by SAA and was attended by District Economic Development Committee members and councillors. Ends