At least 38 000 people in Botswana are expected to face food insecurity this year, a report by the International Red Cross Society has revealed.
The report, which was assessing the status of insecure people in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, shows that in Botswana a new government vulnerability assessment has been carried in 2020, but it was not published yet at the time of reporting.
“The SADC synthesis report states for Botswana the same number of food insecure people as was projected for the 2020 lean season, 38 000 persons. For the time being the earlier projections are used as the basis for the intervention, while with the new report publication and NS (National Society) assessments, revisions of the contextual information may be needed later on in 2020 looking to the first four months of 2021,” the report says.
According to the report, Botswana has experienced recurrent drought for several years and was affected four times in the last five years, with the 2018/19 rains described as the lowest in the country in three decades.
It says in October -December phase of the 2019/20 rainy season the country received very low rainfall, significantly below normal rates both in distribution and time. Little rains were accompanied by strong winds and very high temperatures at an average of 26oc (78.80f).
Some areas also experienced flash floods following heavy downpours of a day or two in one area. These brought hope to farmers, some even ploughed utilising the little moist received. This false hope was short lived.
The report says the fragile seedlings and grass perished due to high temperatures and the short-lived moisture, worsening effects of the drought. Area planted this season (2019/20) has declined as compared to last season. Production is expected to be comparable to last year, however still significantly below average to long term. In the first quarter of 2020, the report observes.
The report says that south eastern parts of the country received above average rainfall permitted regrowth of pastures. At the same time, fall armyworm and corn cricket have been reported in the central and southern parts of the country affecting crops.
On 20 May 2019, the Government of Botswana declared a state of drought emergency calling upon all state parties to work together and assist in drought effects mitigations.
This was after undertaking a drought and Household Food Security (DHFS) assessment in the later parts of March 2019. The report says despite Government actions to address the effects of the drought emergency as outlined in the mitigation plan for the period July 2019 to June 20205 (e.g. increasing the subsidy on livestock feed to 35%, provision of double supplementary feeding rations for children aged six to 59 months, distribution of basic food packages in ‘deserving’ districts, and introduction of special food packages for moderately and severely underweight children), some gaps still exist, especially for very vulnerable households who may not be on the Government support system for one reason or another.
About 38,000 people were projected to be food insecure for the peak lean season of January to March 2020.
Touching on Covid-19, the report says Botswana is a net importer of food grains and cereals. The report notes that closed borders have a negative impact on the supply of food, which again contributes to price inflation at market lever.
“This is already apparent in the country and in the operations budget. The lockdown may also cause devastating economic impact on the informal workers and small businesses. In rural areas, the livestock sector represents 87% of the agriculture’s contribution to the GDP, but as market demand decreases, incomes from the livestock sector may decline,” the report says.
During the reporting period Botswana Red Cross Society (BRCS) says it was able to expand their food assistance to another 150 households, bringing the total number of households reached monthly to 300 as of June 2020.
As government eased Covid-19 related movement restrictions, the report says, enabling BRCS to revert to the initial plan of food assistance through a voucher system, as beneficiaries were once again allowed to move around and visit shops. BRCS is in the process of improving the voucher system upgrading it to a digital one enabling beneficiary choice of goods.
BRCS has also established the first six model gardens that are used to guide and train 100 households in setting up theirs in order to improve their household food production. The demonstration gardens went together with a food security training and demonstrations for volunteers and beneficiaries on construction of water efficient back yard gardens.
Originally, foreseen fodder support to livestock holders has been excluded as grazing has improved after the 2019/2020 rain season. However, it is possible this may have to be revisited again depending on the effects and timing of forecasted La Niña rains in Southern Africa.
