Chapter 4 Changes facilitation: What needs to be done

There are a number of factors that are critical for improvement of the current forestry situation in Botswana. The most critical ones are policies and legislation, institutional setup and operations. As mentioned earlier the National Forest Policy has been reviewed and the legislation review is underway. The administrative setup of the forestry sub-sector is also being considered and may soon be reformed.

4.2.1. Enhancing investment in forestry

There is a need to transform forestry from its current state of low value to a more economically viable sector by:

Creating a enabling environment for investment in forestry

Adopting an accounting system that has strong economic component

Develop economic models for all forest types

Calculating the total monetary value of all goods and services accrued from forestry and contribution towards the national economy.

4.2.2. Technological Changes

There is an urgent need to improve technology both in forestry and agriculture in order to:

Forestry

Reduce damage to trees and other plants

Reduce damage to soils and the terrain

Reduce waste of products

Produce products of good quality

Improve production output

Improve efficiency and reliability of supply

Agriculture

The physical policy to minimize the adverse effects of the critical sectoral constraints like technology, water shortage etc, requires additional public expenditure so as to improve agricultural productivity and production. This calls for development of alternative but economically viable technologies. The government has now embarked on putting in place additional resources to develop these technologies according to the specific agro-climatic and economic conditions

Instead of expanding the cropping land, crop yields will be increased by adopting high yielding crop varieties, use of complimentary inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers and machinery.

The Government has also strengthened the country’s agricultural research system not only to increase productivity effectively, but has re-designed it and developed programs that work closely with farmers and the private sector to fully appreciate and understand their needs and circumstances.

Technology should enhance both the current and future potentials to meet the community needs and aspirations.

There are a lot of changes ongoing within government. The current reforms include: restructuring of Ministries, privatization, decentralization of services, reformation of financial assistance programs, down sizing of public service, reformation of agricultural subsidies, formulation and reviewing of policies and legislations, adoption of new environmental strategies (e.g. recently the government has made major policy changes to attract investment by removing exchange controls, progressive trade liberalization, reduction in company tax, and policy on wage restraint).

The privatization of certain activities by government will be taken as a concrete manifestation of Government’s promotion of the private sector, perhaps more than any of the measures undertaken. Privatization should have a solutary effect on the government budget as resources generated and saved can be used for development of infrastructure and provision of services that the private sector would not normally invest in.

4.3.1. Government

Some of the reforms that have taken place and affect forestry sub-sector include the following:

The National Forest Policy is now in a draft form and awaiting to go to parliament for consideration. This Policy is a product of wider consultation with all stakeholders and other interested parties ( NGOs, Private Sector, Government Agencies, Farmers, Civic Organs, Traditional Leaders, Politicians etc). This is a very comprehensive policy which places emphasis on integrated conservation, development, management and sustainable utilization of forest resources. Its overall objective is:

"To optimize the contribution of the forest sub-sector to the long-term socio-economic development of Botswana by ensuring an enhanced and sustainable flow of benefits from forestry activities to all sectors of the population of present and future generations"

Government policies on wildlife and tourism are embodied in key policy document and relevant legislation such as National Conservation Strategy of 1990, Tourism Act of 1992, Wilife Conservation Policy of 1986 and Wildlife and National Parks Act of 1992.

Establishment of Tourism Department responsible for pursuing the primary policy objective of maximizing utilization on a sustainable basis of existing natural resources in order to increase social and economic benefits to the people of this country.

National Conservation Strategy Agency was established in 1992 with the aim to increase the effectiveness with which natural resources are used and managed, so that beneficial results are maximized and harmful environmental effects are minimized; and integrate the work of many sectoral Ministries and interest groups, thereby improving the development of natural resources through environmental conservation. Its broad functions include; environmental education, NCS projects and programs, environmental research and monitoring, and waste management.

Formulation of Natural Resources Conservation Policy which is till awaiting to go to parliament

Agricultural Policy objectives are; improvement of food security at household and national level; diversification of the agricultural production base; increased agricultural output and productivity; increased employment opportunities for the fast growing labour force; provision of secure and productive environment for agricultural producers; and finally conservation of scarce agricultural and land resources for future generations.

The existing Income Tax Act allows farmers to lay claim against capital costs as well as expenditure items such as prevention of soil erosion, planting of trees, construction of firebreaks etc. Normally these developments require high initial capital investments of which if a provision to claim against such costs was not available the long-term productivity of Botswana’s agricultural land would adversely be affected.

In its endeavour to diversify its agricultural production base, and also by so doing broadening the scope for more sources of income and productive employment, the government has introduced assistance programs to enable farmers and other investors to venture into other enterprises such as forestry, horticulture, fisheries etc. These alternative enterprises are intended to encourage agro-processing through the provision of raw materials such as timber etc.

All these reforms are said to be aimed at promoting sustainable socio-economic development without compromising the environment particularly the natural resources that our very livelihood depends on them.

4.3.2 Private sector, NGOs, donors and civil society

The level of participation by the private sector, communities, civil societies, NGOs, and Donor agencies in forestry related activities has increased significantly over the last few years. This is evidenced by a steady increase in: the number of backyard nurseries that are part of income generating activities; increase in funding by both Donor agencies and NGOs; and active involvement in tree planting by communities. This collaborative approach has lately proved to be very effective and sustainable, and is bound to continue along that road in the near future. All these efforts are inline with the revised National Forest Policy, National Development 8, and conform to the International Conventions such as Convention on Biodiversity, which Botswana has ratified