It is indeed a great pleasure and privilege to be here today in the scenic village of Struizendam to officiate at the opening of the Poverty Eradication Workshop with theme “Towards Dignity for All.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, as you are aware, in his Inaugural Address of 2009 His Excellency the President of the Republic of Botswana Lt. Gen Seretse Khama Ian Khama shifted the policy of Government from poverty reduction to poverty eradication. Undoubtedly, Botswana has been exemplary on how to develop her people because at the time of independence in 1966, she was rated as one of the ten poorest countries in the world. Now she is now a middle income country with aspirations for classification of high income status. Our ability to achieve the high income status is predicated on our ability to address the issue of poverty which, according to Statistics Botswana, is at 20.7% (tha is approximately 373,388 people).
Government of Botswana data, as compiled by the Department of Social Services also indicated that in 2010 the number of destitute persons in the country was 45,000. These were Batswana fully depended on Government for their welfare.
The poverty eradication programme is aimed at ensuring that all able bodied Batswana should step out of poverty and nay Motswana who is not suffering from poverty can embark on the road to wealth creation. Owing to resource constraints, the focus is currently on eradication of abject poverty and knowledge provision to the rest of the nation. Our goal is to eradicate abject poverty by the end of next and then shift focus to the other categories.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the fundamental goal of poverty eradication is undoubtedly dignity for all. Within the frame of poverty eradication, we say a person has dignity if he meets all the conditions used to measure the welfare status of the individual in Botswana. It is premised on individuals having the following:
• basic capability to feed themselves
• basic capability to clothe themselves; • being able to work if they wish; • being decently housed; • being able to enjoy education; • being able to take own place in society
Achieving dignity for all is thus the paramount imperative of the Government. The minimum conditions set above are only met if people step out of poverty and actively participate in the main stream economy. The poverty eradication programme is premised on the need to ensure that the minimum conditions of dignity for every Citizen are met.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the shift in policy also requires a shift in mindset which will aid in achievement of the policy objectives. The issue of mindset in relation to the poverty eradication programme needs to be unpacked owing to the fact that failure to have an appropriate mindset may hamper the programme. An appropriate mindset is thus a catalyst of the structures, systems and process of the programme.
The major mindset change is about the efficacy of the individual. Each individual, needs to introspect and assess his current state o mindset and ask whether or not it needs to change. Amongst the key issues which each individual has to ask himself or herself are following:
• Are you clear in your mind about your purpose in life and if not what are you doing to ensure that you know your purpose in life?
• Do you have clear, definitive, time bound personal goals you have set for yourself, if not why not?
• Are there challenges that you face in fulfilling your purpose in life or in attaining the goals you have set for yourself, and if they are, do you have strategies to overcome them?
Ladies and gentlemen, if any of the above responses is in the negative, then the individuals will score low on measures of efficiency, effectiveness, and efficacy. Unfortunately, such individuals tend to blame everyone but themselves about their low productivity, and because of their low self esteem they tend to care less about the marginalized and poor. If you belong to this category, I urge you to change. Start now!
The other critical mindset change required is that of nation building politics. Our politics should be aimed at nation building rather than nation destruction. Politicians should critic constructively and affirm positive policies and programmes irrespective of party affiliations. Unfortunately, there is tendency amongst some of us o resort to low handed strategies of stigmatizing and misinforming the targeted beneficiaries of programmes. Constructive criticisms build nations, whilst insensitive, deliberately mislead critiques are harmful to their progress.
We have learned that some politicians try to discourage people living in their constituencies from enrolling in backyard gardens as a shade net and a jojo tank stigmatizes the family as poor. This is, unfortunate, and also factually incorrect owing to the fact that individuals with backyard gardens are on the path to stepping out of poverty. Rather than it being a stigma of poverty, it should be a symbol of a step out of poverty.
I applaud all you 1000 workshop participants for enrolling in the poverty eradication packages and I urge you to use this opportunity to build a prosperous and productive future for yourselves. Do not listen to any voice trying to deter you from the path you have set for yourself!
During this workshop you will be equipped and empowered with basic life skills covering the following:
• Mind set change
• Business planning
• Costing and pricing;
• Quality assurance
• Aesthetic product packaging and branding; • Effective marketing and sales strategies; • Basic financial literacy and financial management; and • Value and processes of networking and clustering.
The workshop will be pragmatic in that the participants will experience a living laboratory of the project they are interested to embark upon. Following the workshop, the beneficiaries will be enrolled in more technical programmes at various institutions to ensure that they have sufficient skills to manage their enterprises.
Once this phase is completed all the participants will receive the package and start their businesses.
Workshop participants, this is your first important steps on your journey to stepping out of poverty and I have the full confidence that you will, upon starting your project, step out of poverty. May we please applaud them!
We are on course with our goal of having a workshop in every region in the country. The next workshop is schedule for Goodhope from December 17-19 2012. The workshops in Okavango and Chobe will be held early next year.
I am also pleased to inform you that there are currently 23 packages which have been developed that the beneficiaries can choose from; i.e -
No. PACKAGE/PROJECT
1. Backyard Gardens
2. Bakery
3. Backyard Tree Nursery
4. Beekeeping
5. Fashion Design
6. Fish Farming
7. Food catering
8. Hair Salon
9. Beauty Salon
10. Home Based Laundry
11. Jam Making
12. Vegetable Pickles
13. Kiosk
14. Landscaping
15. Leather Processing
16. Packaging of Food grains
17. Small stock
18. Tent hire
19. Phane
20. Bottle Recycling
21. Fire Beaters
22. Basketry (being developed)
23. Child Care (being developed)
The financial models of the said packages have been validated and those who have implemented the packages have reported performance better than that predicted in the models. I thus urge Batswana to learn more about the various packages to enable them to make informed decisions in their selections.
Batswana should note that the Poverty Eradication Programme is predicated on the belief that Batswana can step out of poverty and embark on wealth creation.
I am also pleased to inform you that a package is being developed for those who would be building houses for the destitute using the Kgalagadi Sans Brick, an innovation of Botswana Technology Center. The first house of its kind will be build here in Struizendam, and brick making for the project has started. We are confident that the cost of building such houses will be drastically reduced by using the Kgalagadi Sand Brick, as its major ingredient, Kgalagadi sand, is abundant in the country.
Approximately 8000 backyard garden will be rolled out by the end of this financial year. To date 770 backyard garden projects have been completed, 442 are under construction. Efforts are underway to fast track rollout of the remaining projects by removing impediments such as lack of transport to deliver materials.
Overall, rollout is ongoing for 5089 beneficiaries under alternative packages of the Poverty Eradication Programme. Efforts are underway to fast track the rollout and implementation of the projects.
To date, all alternative packages rolled out have proven to be successful. For example, the beneficiaries of Sehunou and surrounding villages that were recently given the catering and bakery packages were amongst the group out sourced to cater for the Sehunou/Motshegaletau Poverty Eradication Workshop in September 2012.
Ladies and Gentlemen, markets for the produce from the Backyard Gardens and alternative packages are being addressed through the following strategies:
• Some produce/products will be sold to government facilities such as schools, hospitals and offices; • Some of the produce will be sold to the agro processing plant to be set up in or around Selibe Phikwe; • Craft markets will be sold internationally and local shops are set in strategic places.
• Cooperatives will be established which will be capacitated to receive produce from backyard gardens, grade it, package it, and sell it to mainstream markets, including retail shops. Cooperatives will also be set for some of the alternative packages.
• Locals will continue to be encourages to purchase produce from fellow Batswana in their neighborhoods;
I am please to inform you that the first backyard gardens cooperative has been registered in Sehunou/Motshegaletau.
Ladies and Gentlemen, in conclusion, let me restate that, poverty eradication is aimed at dignity for all, and it is an ethical, social, and economic imperative of our Government. Undoubtedly, a positive mindset change is a catalyst to attaining the noble goals of the programme; key questions you need to answer individually are the following: what are you doing to contribute to the improvement of your own welfare and what are you doing to improve the welfare of those less privileged?
We are undoubtedly making progress, but we can do much more! I thus urge every citizen to stand with us in the war against poverty – a war we will definitely win.