UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative

Please download the PEI Country fact sheet on Botswana (PDF)

Basic Facts of the PEI in Botswana

• The objectives of the PEI Botswana programme are to: (i) enhance Integration of equitable and sustainable development in national-, sector- and district-level policies, plans, budgets and monitoring systems; and (ii) improve knowledge and use of integrated frameworks, approaches, tools, methodologies and assessments for sustainable utilization of environment and natural resources.
• The main poverty-environment linkages in Botswana are water resource management, land and rangeland degradation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization, access to energy, pollution and waste management, and climate change.
• PEI will work strategically to strengthen mainstreaming of environmental sustainability in national, sectoral and district policy making, planning and budgets to support delivery of poverty reduction and economic growth.
• In particular PEI aims to develop awareness and promote action to tackle key environmental problems and their socio-economic impacts in order to support delivery of the Government of Botswana’s Vision 2016 and National Development Plan (NDP10).
• PEI contributed to integrate poverty-environment linkages into the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for Botswana (2008) and the Government of Botswana-UN Programme Operational Plan (2009).
• The Joint GOB-UNDP-UNEP PEI Programme (2010–2012) will contribute to the achievement of two UNDAF Outcomes: (1) Economic Diversification and Poverty Reduction: A diversified economy the growth of which is rapid, inclusive, sustainable and generates decent employment opportunities by 2016 and (2) Environment and Climate Change: By 2016, the rural poor, especially women, enjoy greater benefits from the environment and natural ecosystems.
• The main institutions involved from the Government of Botswana are: the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFPD) (lead agency) and the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism (MEWT) as well as the Ministries of Local Government, Agriculture, Health and Minerals and Water Resources. PEI Botswana is also working closely with the UNDP Poverty unit and the Environment unit, UNDP Botswana.
• Programme implementation is supported by a PEI Secretariat based in the MFPD, composed of a national project manager, an international advisor, and a finance/administrative assistant.
• Funding for the Phase I programme (2010 – 2012) consists of PEI (USD 1 million) matched by UNDP Botswana (USD 1 million) and Government of Botswana (USD 250,000).

The context of poverty-environment mainstreaming in Botswana

• Botswana is a middle-income country, but it still faces problems of poverty, income inequality and unemployment. Poverty is more severe in rural areas, reaching 53 per cent in the rural South West.The poor in Botswana are most directly dependent on environmental resources, such as land, water and flora, and suffer the most when the environment is degraded.
• Environmental degradation is recorded for all key natural resource assets, including forests, soils and water resources. For instance, 69 per cent of the country suffers from land degradation linked to deforestation and soil and gulley erosion.
• Botswana’s Vision 2010 and National Development Plan 10 (NDP 2010–2016) recognize the importance of environment and natural resources within the context of 10 key result areas, including: Sustainable Economic Growth, Sustainable Environment and Enhanced Well-being and Social Responsibility. Ministries, departments and districts are expected to implement subsector goals related to Economics, Environment, Security and Administration.
• The UN and Government of Botswana have articulated an UNDAF (2010–2016) that responds to the National Development Plan with goals and outcomes in five areas: Governance and Human Rights Promotion; Economic Diversification and Poverty Reduction; Health and HIV and AIDS; Environment and Climate Change; and Children, Youth and Women Empowerment. The UNDAF will be implemented through a Joint UN Programme Operational Plan (UNPOP, 2010–2014). 

Main activities of the PEI in Botswana

• Identification of potential “champions” in government, civil society, private sector, media and donors; focal points within government; and relevant donor and government-donor coordination mechanisms.
• Recommend effective implementation arrangements, e.g., establishment of an inter-departmental task team/steering committee/working group that includes environment, planning/finance and key sector ministries.
• Development and implementation of a communication and advocacy strategy.
• Raising awareness of links between sustainable natural resource management, economic growth and poverty reduction among decision-makers, civil society and the public.
• An economic analysis of the costs of environmental degradation and benefits of sustainable natural resources management.
• A poverty and social impact analysis of the agricultural reform programme (Integrated Support Programme on Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD))
• Improving capacity and strengthened systems within the government for environmental and poverty-environment mainstreaming, and monitoring sustainable natural resource management. This includes support to oversight committees such as the Natural Resources Technical Committee and the Multi Sectoral Committee on Poverty and Food Security.

What has been achieved to date?

• A Poverty-Environment Brief has been developed, which identified key environment, growth and poverty reduction issues in Botswana. The brief also fed into the development of the PEI Botswana project document. The brief was disseminated to the reference group for the Preparatory Phase of PEI Botswana as an advocacy and awareness-raising activity.
• Review of NDP 10, District Planning Handbook and other relevant planning documents to identify entry points for mainstreaming environment into national-, sector- and local-level planning processes were carried out as part of the PEI Botswana project document formulation. PEI Africa provided comments for the NDP 10 on poverty-environment linkages and mainstreaming.
• Enhanced awareness of the Rural Development Council and the MultiSectoral Committee on Poverty and Food Security on poverty-environment linkages and economic growth, and their contribution to national development priorities.
• An institutional assessment and mapping of policy processes and initiatives, roles and responsibilities of the Government of Botswana and development partners related to poverty-environment issues within the context of the NDP 10 was completed in October 2009. The assessment identified: low awareness and dialogue amongst key decision-makers, the media, civil society and the private sector on the role of environmental management in contributing to growth and poverty reduction; responsibility for environment fragmented across many government departments; limited environmental mainstreaming across government; poverty dimensions of environmental management poorly understood; and limited awareness and planning for climate change across the breadth of government. The findings were used to identify entry points for PEI Botswana and for the formulation of the PEI Botswana project document.
• For the formulation of the PEI Botswana Advocacy and Communication Strategy, a workshop was conducted. The objective of the workshop was to identify key stakeholders (government, development partners, CSOs, private sector, etc.) and high-level PEI champions, in order to influence policy, institutional and behavioural change related to the importance of poverty-Environment linkages for economic and social development. Based on the workshop, the Communication and Advocacy Strategy for PEI Botswana was completed in June 2010. The Strategy identified target audiences, strategic and key messages, tools and action plan activities for integration of poverty-environment issues in development planning processes.
• In January 2010 the Government of Botswana, UNDP Botswana and the PEI signed a PEI Joint Programme on Poverty-Environment to contribute to relevant objectives articulated in the UNDAF (2010–2016) and related Government of Botswana-UN Programme Operational Plan (UNPOP 2010–2014) and the UNDP Country Programme (2010–2014) .
• The PEI Botswana Team is based at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, and consists of a project manager, an international technical advisor, and an administrative assistant.
• As part of the implementation of the Communication and Advocacy Strategy,PEI Botswana jointly with the UNDP Country Office supported the Government of Botswana to organize an environmental reporting workshop for the media. The main outcome was a set of proposals for the Government of Botswana to consider for putting the environment in the media agenda. These included: a follow-up workshop on the technicalities of environmental reporting; placing desk officers/direct contact persons in the Environment Department to deal with journalists on environmental issues; and issuing press releases on a regular basis, especially on emerging issues.
• The PEI is involved in the review and redrafting of the Tourism and Wildlife Policies, in Government preparations for the UNCSD Rio+20 conference, and in the preparation of a National Strategy for Sustainable Development.
• A training workshop was organized to provide capacity building on poverty-environment mainstreaming for central ministries, like the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, and line ministries, such as like the Ministry of Agriculture. Main outcomes of the workshop were that most of the workshop participants were not very familiar with the concept of poverty-environmental linkages or environmental mainstreaming.The contribution of natural resources to the economy and the link between environmental management and poverty reduction also are not well understood.

Lessons learned

• The involvement of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning from the beginning of the Preparatory Phase has been very useful in order to establish buy-in from the Government of Botswana and for programme formulation.
• The institutional analysis was a very valuable tool for the identification of entry points for PEI and to understand the institutional set-up in Botswana. This helped with tailoring the PEI Botswana project document for the Botswana context and with identifying areas of focus for the programme.
• Substantive support from the UN Resident Coordinator and financial and human resources from the UNDP Country Office has been very helpful for programme development and implementation of activities in order to establish political buy-in from the Government of Botswana.
• PEI engagement in on-going national policy dialogue processes, such as NDP 10 and the development of the UNDAF and UNPOP, was important to ensure thatPEI responded to national priorities and engaged UN and other local actors, including local research institutions and CSOs.
• Slow recruitment process of in-country staff has delayed implementation of project activities.
• Regular information sharing and communication flow are important for the monitoring and evaluation of project activities and for keeping the focus on poverty-environment issues.

Way forward

• Recruit a team of national and international consultants to undertake the study on the economic costs of environmental degradation and the economic benefits of sustainable natural resources management.
• Findings from the economic study to be communicated to policy and decision makers and other stakeholders to make the case for investing in sustainable natural resources management.
• Recruit consultants to undertake poverty and social impact analysis (PSIA) of the Integrated Support Programme on Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD)
• Series of awareness raising activities on poverty-environment linkages, including policy dialogues, debates and public fora for the Government of Botswana, civil society, and private sector, including the preparation of awareness raising materials.
• Capacity building training workshops on poverty-environment linkages and poverty-environment mainstreaming for various committees and key stakeholders such as the Natural Resources Technical Committee,the Multi Sectoral Committee on Poverty and Food Security, CSOs and media.
• Capacity building on the application of tools and methodologies for integrated assessments (e.g., IEAs, SEAs, PSIAs, economic analysis) for key ministries and sectors, such as the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Ministry of Local Government, and research institutes.
• Pilot economic valuation of key environment and natural resource sectors and promote integration of poverty-environment linkages into National System of Accounts.