Academic literature on the topic 'Community development – Botswana'

This note examines aspects of colonial commonality between British colonised East Africa and India. Community development as a rural development programme, its presence in academic institutions and its use as an expression in development discourse are some of these commonalities. With the passage of time, British East Africa and India have diverged on some of these commonalities. In India, community development began with great developmental hopes in 1952, but it ended miserably and was soon abandoned as a rural development programme. While it vanished from India’s development lexicon, community development still retains a place in the development discourse of Botswana. It also seems to resonate in the mainstream life of some East African countries unlike in India. But one commonality still continues. Community development finds some place in the halls of academe in both Botswana and India today. To discuss these aspects of colonial commonality, this article moves back-and-forth among Botswana, India and British East Africa. This article needs to be read in the historical context of de-colonisation struggles over developmental ideas in British East Africa and India and the role of the native elites in this process.

Universities are better placed through their community engagement mandates to provide solutions for sustainable community livelihoods. The paper uses the case of the Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) strategy, regarded as both a conservation and rural development strategy in Botswana to demonstrate how a structured community engagement agenda can enable the University of Botswana to play a more impactful role in the successful implementation of nationally upheld development initiatives such as the CBNRM. Systems theory is applied to demonstrate the need for a university engagement strategy, working model, guide to CBNRM sustainable development activities and a framework for the maintenance of sustainable engagement partnerships. Literature review showed uncoordinated research activity in support of the CBNRM by different departments and institutes of the UB. While content analysis of the CBNRM draft policy objectives showed the UB being more impactful by focusing its community engagement on two modes: “sustainability partnerships” and “research committed to sustainability”.

This short note provides one answer to an anomaly that has perplexed many an observer of rural development in sub-Saharan Africa: How is it possible that two deeply-rooted values in some African societies – the people's sense of individualism and their sense of community – have persisted through time when they seem to work against each other?

As anthropologists, applied researchers, and action researchers, we have long explored the relationship between researcher and researched; many of us have tried to reconceptualize these roles to make informants more equal partners in the research process. In the Southern African country of Botswana, Participatory Rural Appraisals (PRAs) have become the favored way to involve community members in applied-research. PRAs assist communities gather and document information about their surroundings, build rapport between the local community and extension officers, and plan development efforts through a series of facilitator-led activities. A PRA exercise results in a community-action plan, in which community members outline what will be done, when, how, and by whom. But while PRAs have been developed to help community members create a village profile and needs assessment, the research protocol itself tends to be a standardized "fill-in-the-blank exercise." In the most typical scenario, community members, with the guidance of outside facilitators, supply the missing information. The popularity of PRAs, coupled with this fixed, externally-driven format, raises questions about the meaning of participation in participatory research, and the degree to which community members can be expected to participate in researching their own lives. As part of my own examination of these issues, I recently co-facilitated a different model of participatory research in Botswana, in which the tools for data collection were fully designed and used by community members to research their own communities. In this article, I write about my own experiences, and those of the men and women who became participant researchers, in order to examine the power that active participation in research generates among community members and to describe the social and political dilemmas that arose from that participation.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Small tourism enterprises are a driving force in tourism economies. Support for small tourism enterprises seeks to address the challenges they are facing that hinder their business growth and their input into the tourism economy. This study investigates the available support programmes and interventions that are provided by the government of Botswana to promote Small Tourism Enterprises. The significant contribution of small enterprises to local communities has thus seen the prioritizing of small business support and development by the government as a crucial point. Nevertheless, these small enterprises are often faced with many challenges that hold them back to compete with established businesses. The government of Botswana offers extensive business opportunities that favour small tourism enterprises. However, the salient question we are trying to answer is what factors need to be addressed to enable small tourism enterprises in Tsodilo community to grow and reach their full potential? The following objectives have been identified to establish areas in which small tourism businesses require support: To assess the needs of small tourism enterprises to have access to the things that will enable them to reach their full potential, to evaluate if the support in place is meeting the needs of small tourism enterprises and to examine strategies and interventions that can assist STEs. The population sample comprises small businesses in the Tsodilo community. A questionnaire survey of small tourism businesses was conducted to acquire primary data. In addition, secondary data from the national development plan, tourism plans and tourism statistics was used. In general, the findings reveal that a thorough consultation with small tourism enterprises is necessary when support programmes and interventions are developed. By using t findings, the government can evaluate its own efforts and ensure that support programmes are designed to meet the identified needs of small tourism enterprises. Additional research should aim at examining the sustainability of tourism development in the area as well as examining planning processes for tourism-targeted programmes.

Thesis (MPA) --University of Limpopo, 2009
The Mahalapye sub District Development Committee is the most significant organization in the sub district as it sets overall goals, direction and priorities with which all development initiatives within the district should conform to. The membership of the committee includes all heads of central and local government departments, government planners, heads of Parastatals, and representatives of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Effective management of projects requires collective consciousness, effort and will and it is important that members of the sub District Development Committee work as a team to ensure that all projects are implemented within the set time frames and limited resources. The development challenges facing Mahalapye sub district are complex. These challenges are not peculiar to the sub district, but are also a challenge to other districts in Botswana. These challenges include the need to implement village infrastructure projects in a cost effective manner in that the projects are completed within the estimated budget and time schedule. The research findings are that indeed the problem of project cost and time overruns is a problem in Mahalapye sub District and that the problem is attributed to the way the projects are managed, in particular, by the sub District Development Committee. A number of recommendations have been provided to help overcome the problem

The research explored the training needs of Community-Based Tourism (CBT) structures, specifically for Tsodilo Hills, as well as the learning methods that best suit community members and how training can be used to strengthen Social Capital. Tourism is a means to alleviate poverty and empower communities, however, some CBT projects fail to deliver this due to a lack of skills, conflict and community disengagement. Nationally recognized vocational training does not impart the skills required for CBT and is not accessible to individuals in remote locations. The constructivist grounded theory methodology was used. Feedback was obtained from the Tsodilo Hills community, government bodies, hospitality and tourism associations, tourism operators and educational institutions through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The data was transcribed, coded and analyzed. The findings indicate that training needs to focus on foundational, multi-disciplinary hard skills in hospitality and tourism, language, business, customer service and environmental sustainability, as well as soft skills, such as, in work attitude, innovation, conflict management, and communication. Training must be conducted in the community and tailored using an andragogical teaching approach. An Asset-Based Community Development approach, including CBT stakeholders, must be used to plan and implement training to ensure that learners and the community remain the focal point. Literature supports these findings. The research delivered a CBT Rapid Skills Development model which provided remote communities with access to relevant vocational training aligned to tourism principles and their specific needs, thereby increasing the likelihood of an inclusive and sustainable tourism industry.

The study was conducted in Phitshane-Molopo in Botswana. Phitshane-Molopo is located about 115 kilometers south of the main village of Kanye in which the Rural Industries Innovation Centre operates. The study constitutes the first attempt at evaluating audience reach and reception of the RIIC media messages. In this study, a sample of 50 representatives of households (the rationale is covered in chapter 1) was taken, for which a questionnaire was administered, including conducting in-depth interviews with key informants. The study found that RIlC media are not reaching the audience in keeping with the corporate goals and assumptions on the basis of which the communication strategy was established. The audience has claimed that the print media relayed to them through the extension officer channel do not reach them. The study also found that the audience possessed adequate literacy skills and the majority of them could read materials produced in Setswana. Only a few individuals preferred media text produced in the English language. The study therefore deplores RIIC's proclivity towards producing its media texts only in the English language. This has tended to marginalise members of the audience who cannot read in English. It is thus hoped that this study would provide a learning experience for RIIC to consider producing its communication media in relation to the needs of the audience. The study also found that the impact of the RIIC radio programme is very poor, with only a low of 2% of the sample population having listened to this programme. The problem stems from the poor Radio Botswana transmission system. The audience said that for the larger part of the day, they can't get Radio Botswana on air. As a result, they have shifted their interest to the South African radio stations such as Radio Tswana and Radio Mmabatho, which are constantly on air. The study concludes that the RIIC communication strategy is failing in the study area because the paradigm in which it is located is somewhat flawed, as a result of which it does not effectively impact upon reach and reception. At the core of this failure rate are implementation problems and the lack of evaluation that would have picked up the - problems earlier, for which solutions would have been found. Consequently, th~$tudy recommends the need to explore the suitability and effectiveness of the indigenous media for possible syncretization with conventional media as recommended in the need based integrative model (Nwosu and Megwa: 1993). Indigenous media are ideally suited to rural communication needs because they are consistent with the socio-cultural expectations of the audience. RIIC therefore stands to benefit from these media because the bulk of its audience resides in rural areas.

There is considerable evidence in literature that suggests that the concept of standard of living has tended to be predicated on the notion of income alone. However, exploring this concept further, evidence suggests that the notion of standard of living goes beyond simply looking at income to include Gross Domestic Product (GDP), life expectancy, and economic opportunities available to individuals. This suggests that in a given country, when the above-mentioned ‘components’ are accessible to individuals, the expectation is that these will translate into realization of meaningful standards of living and wellbeing. This chapter seeks to explore how standard of living and well-being in Botswana have metamorphosed over time, from the pre-colonial period, through the early years of independence and the time of the discovery of diamonds, up to the present. Additionally, the article examines how community development initiatives across the country, have impacted standard of living and wellbeing of the population. The chapter concludes by suggesting strategies the government of Botswana could adopt in efforts to strengthen community development, with a view, ultimately, to further improve standard of living and wellbeing of the country’s population.

Effective development of e-Government takes place when there is a balance between the supply side (interventions towards promotion of e-Government) and the demand side (consumers' willingness to engage in e-Government). Botswana presents a case where e-Government is nearly rhetorical despite the major interventions that are being put in place to accelerate its development. Meaningful proliferation of e-Government can be achieved if there is universal (global) adoption of ICTs by citizens and businesses in their interaction with the government departments. Although there are some applications which potential e-Government consumers can use to interact with the government departments, this facility is not universally accessible to most citizens, especially at the community (and village) level. This chapter highlights the experience of local authorities in Botswana towards promoting the use of e-Government in a bid to bring it to the doorsteps of the people. This conceptual chapter discusses the experience of local authorities in Botswana in promoting the use of e-Government to bring it to the doorstep of the people. It highlights how the country's e-Government interventions at the local authority level are intertwined with the national efforts, and discusses what strategies are in place to encourage global citizen and businesses' utilization of e-Government applications. Further, the chapter posits that there is a huge chance that e-Government will succeed in Botswana if concerted efforts are amalgamated towards its development.

This report maps the African landscape of Open Science – with a focus on Open Data as a sub-set of Open Science. Data to inform the landscape study were collected through a variety of methods, including surveys, desk research, engagement with a community of practice, networking with stakeholders, participation in conferences, case study presentations, and workshops hosted. Although the majority of African countries (35 of 54) demonstrates commitment to science through its investment in research and development (R&D), academies of science, ministries of science and technology, policies, recognition of research, and participation in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI), the following countries demonstrate the highest commitment and political willingness to invest in science: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. In addition to existing policies in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), the following countries have made progress towards Open Data policies: Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Africa and Uganda. Only two African countries (Kenya and South Africa) at this stage contribute 0.8% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to R&D (Research and Development), which is the closest to the AU’s (African Union’s) suggested 1%. Countries such as Lesotho and Madagascar ranked as 0%, while the R&D expenditure for 24 African countries is unknown. In addition to this, science globally has become fully dependent on stable ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) infrastructure, which includes connectivity/bandwidth, high performance computing facilities and data services. This is especially applicable since countries globally are finding themselves in the midst of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is not only “about” data, but which “is” data. According to an article1 by Alan Marcus (2015) (Senior Director, Head of Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries, World Economic Forum), “At its core, data represents a post-industrial opportunity. Its uses have unprecedented complexity, velocity and global reach. As digital communications become ubiquitous, data will rule in a world where nearly everyone and everything is connected in real time. That will require a highly reliable, secure and available infrastructure at its core, and innovation at the edge.” Every industry is affected as part of this revolution – also science. An important component of the digital transformation is “trust” – people must be able to trust that governments and all other industries (including the science sector), adequately handle and protect their data. This requires accountability on a global level, and digital industries must embrace the change and go for a higher standard of protection. “This will reassure consumers and citizens, benefitting the whole digital economy”, says Marcus. A stable and secure information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure – currently provided by the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) – is key to advance collaboration in science. The AfricaConnect2 project (AfricaConnect (2012–2014) and AfricaConnect2 (2016–2018)) through establishing connectivity between National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), is planning to roll out AfricaConnect3 by the end of 2019. The concern however is that selected African governments (with the exception of a few countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia and others) have low awareness of the impact the Internet has today on all societal levels, how much ICT (and the 4th Industrial Revolution) have affected research, and the added value an NREN can bring to higher education and research in addressing the respective needs, which is far more complex than simply providing connectivity. Apart from more commitment and investment in R&D, African governments – to become and remain part of the 4th Industrial Revolution – have no option other than to acknowledge and commit to the role NRENs play in advancing science towards addressing the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals). For successful collaboration and direction, it is fundamental that policies within one country are aligned with one another. Alignment on continental level is crucial for the future Pan-African African Open Science Platform to be successful. Both the HIPSSA ((Harmonization of ICT Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa)3 project and WATRA (the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly)4, have made progress towards the regulation of the telecom sector, and in particular of bottlenecks which curb the development of competition among ISPs. A study under HIPSSA identified potential bottlenecks in access at an affordable price to the international capacity of submarine cables and suggested means and tools used by regulators to remedy them. Work on the recommended measures and making them operational continues in collaboration with WATRA. In addition to sufficient bandwidth and connectivity, high-performance computing facilities and services in support of data sharing are also required. The South African National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System5 (NICIS) has made great progress in planning and setting up a cyberinfrastructure ecosystem in support of collaborative science and data sharing. The regional Southern African Development Community6 (SADC) Cyber-infrastructure Framework provides a valuable roadmap towards high-speed Internet, developing human capacity and skills in ICT technologies, high- performance computing and more. The following countries have been identified as having high-performance computing facilities, some as a result of the Square Kilometre Array7 (SKA) partnership: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zambia. More and more NRENs – especially the Level 6 NRENs 8 (Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and recently Zambia) – are exploring offering additional services; also in support of data sharing and transfer. The following NRENs already allow for running data-intensive applications and sharing of high-end computing assets, bio-modelling and computation on high-performance/ supercomputers: KENET (Kenya), TENET (South Africa), RENU (Uganda), ZAMREN (Zambia), EUN (Egypt) and ARN (Algeria). Fifteen higher education training institutions from eight African countries (Botswana, Benin, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, and Tanzania) have been identified as offering formal courses on data science. In addition to formal degrees, a number of international short courses have been developed and free international online courses are also available as an option to build capacity and integrate as part of curricula. The small number of higher education or research intensive institutions offering data science is however insufficient, and there is a desperate need for more training in data science. The CODATA-RDA Schools of Research Data Science aim at addressing the continental need for foundational data skills across all disciplines, along with training conducted by The Carpentries 9 programme (specifically Data Carpentry 10 ). Thus far, CODATA-RDA schools in collaboration with AOSP, integrating content from Data Carpentry, were presented in Rwanda (in 2018), and during17-29 June 2019, in Ethiopia. Awareness regarding Open Science (including Open Data) is evident through the 12 Open Science-related Open Access/Open Data/Open Science declarations and agreements endorsed or signed by African governments; 200 Open Access journals from Africa registered on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ); 174 Open Access institutional research repositories registered on openDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories); 33 Open Access/Open Science policies registered on ROARMAP (Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies); 24 data repositories registered with the Registry of Data Repositories (re3data.org) (although the pilot project identified 66 research data repositories); and one data repository assigned the CoreTrustSeal. Although this is a start, far more needs to be done to align African data curation and research practices with global standards. Funding to conduct research remains a challenge. African researchers mostly fund their own research, and there are little incentives for them to make their research and accompanying data sets openly accessible. Funding and peer recognition, along with an enabling research environment conducive for research, are regarded as major incentives. The landscape report concludes with a number of concerns towards sharing research data openly, as well as challenges in terms of Open Data policy, ICT infrastructure supportive of data sharing, capacity building, lack of skills, and the need for incentives. Although great progress has been made in terms of Open Science and Open Data practices, more awareness needs to be created and further advocacy efforts are required for buy-in from African governments. A federated African Open Science Platform (AOSP) will not only encourage more collaboration among researchers in addressing the SDGs, but it will also benefit the many stakeholders identified as part of the pilot phase. The time is now, for governments in Africa, to acknowledge the important role of science in general, but specifically Open Science and Open Data, through developing and aligning the relevant policies, investing in an ICT infrastructure conducive for data sharing through committing funding to making NRENs financially sustainable, incentivising open research practices by scientists, and creating opportunities for more scientists and stakeholders across all disciplines to be trained in data management.