Africa Foundation has been active in Botswana since 2014, anchored by the andBeyond concessions in the Okavango Delta and working alongside the andBeyond Botswana team to support rural communities close to the world-famous tourist hotspot of the Okavango Delta.
Our work in Botswana is specifically linked to the andBeyond Xaranna, Xudum and Sandibe concessions, and their concessions in Chobe and Savuti. Our community focus is currently on the Tsutsubega, Gogomoga and Sexaxa communities.
These communities have limited access to infrastructure and education, which reduces their opportunities for employment and enterprise development. The households in these villages are reliant on subsistence farming and are under significant strain due to the drought conditions affecting their area, together with the impact of problem animals, notably elephants, that destroy crops during the dry season. Phase 1 of the project will be focused on testing the effectiveness of a range of solar powered motion sensor security lights – placed around fields to disturb elephants when they’re in the area and testing the effectiveness of solar powered electric strand fencing – strung around fields to increase protection from elephants.
Botswana is a land-locked country with a population of 2.2 million people. It is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world, with a significant portion of the land being the Kalahari Desert. One third of the population live in rural areas. Since its independence in 1966, Botswana has maintained one of the world’s highest economic growth rates, achieved through fiscal discipline and sound management of its valuable natural resources – primarily diamonds. Botswana has also benefited economically from cattle and tourism, making it a relatively prosperous African country. Despite the positive economic outlook however, unemployment rates are high, rural poverty is prevalent and the country has the worlds second highest rates of HIV/AIDS. Botswana also faces major drought problems, with three quarters of the country’s human and animal populations dependent on groundwater and less than 5% of agriculture sustained by rainfall.
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