06 Jun 2024

Rural Development Council (RDC) is steadfast on implementing and managing drought relief intervention measures, to ensure maximum impact in fighting the negative effects of drought on communities and the broader socio-economic development of the country.

Officially opening the 165^th edition of the RDC meeting on Wednesday, Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane said the impact caused by El Nino-induced drought resulted in delayed onset of rains and extensive dry spells which negatively affected the agricultural sector.

“The rainfall forecasts for the 2023/24 season, has always been bleak. It anticipated mostly below normal rainfall, combined with prolonged dry spells, characterised by extremely hot weather and high temperatures. This is indeed a drought year, not only in Botswana, but affecting the whole of the SADC region,” said the Vice President.

It is against this backdrop that Mr Tsogwane, who is also RDC chairperson urged the council to re-double efforts and pace in rolling out new programmes and initiatives such as Temo Letlotlo, Thuo Letlotlo and Chema Chema since they were key in uplifting livelihoods, particularly in the rural areas.

Mr Tsogwane said RDC should ensure that the on-going NDP12 preparation was executed timely and effectively with special emphasis on rural development, to help achieve community resilience against droughts, job creation and enhanced service delivery in rural areas.

“Let me also urge all of you to ensure that planned projects are implemented on time, as this will facilitate job creation and therefore reduce over dependence on government safety nets such as Ipelegeng, destitution programme and many others,” he said.

He noted that managing drought was expensive hence required collaborative efforts by government, private sector and development partners in an effort to positively influence people’s livelihoods.

The Vice President said it was equally important to enhance control of wildfires, to help conserve the environment and grazing areas to cushion livestock production, wild life management protection and preservation of veld products and other natural resources.

Additionally, Mr Tsogwane said the drought status in Southern Africa prompted SADC Heads of State to convene a special summit on May 24, to chart the way forward during which President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi cautioned that the drought impact had limited seasonal employment and low crop yields which negatively impacted income and food security at household and national levels. He said there was also anticipation of high inflation of commodity prices owing to food security and supply not meeting demand .

Further, the Vice President noted that government had mandated Botswana Institute of Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA) to undertake a rigorous review of the RDC mandate and membership, the outcome of which was expected to help reposition RDC to effectively oversee and coordinate rural development, especially ensuring that there was convergence in strategy and policy implementation.This, he said would help drive service delivery in the rural areas and promote the overall rural development.

Mr Tsogwane said he was hopeful that the BIDPA review, which was expected to be complete not later than August, would help RDC to effectively and efficiently reach out to people in rural areas.

He said BIDPA was also finalising the review of Botswana’s 2002 Revised National Policy for Rural Development. ends