Mar 23, 2020

COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan

On 30 January 2020, the Director-General of WHO declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), following advice from the IHR Emergency Committee. On 4 February 2020, the Director-General of WHO briefed the Secretary-General of the United Nations and requested the activation of the United Nations crisis management policy to establish a Crisis Management Team (CMT) to coordinate the UN system-wide scale up to assist countries prepare for and respond to COVID-19.

Mar 16, 2020

Biodiversity Finance Initiative Report 2019

Entrance and other protected area fees are largely publicly accepted with good revenue potential. They have not been adjusted in Botswana since 2000, presenting a clear opportunity to increase revenues from this source. Growing protected area self-generated revenues from fees will only be beneficial to biodiversity conservation if it results in greater funds being made available for protected areas management and investment. However, at present these revenues are not kept within the protected area system and essentially accrue to the Treasury. DWNP, who are responsible for protected areas management, are then allocated a departmental budget. Moreover, this allocation is inadequate for the purposes of biodiversity conservation and the upkeep of tourism infrastructure and is therefore leading to the gradual degradation of critical tourism assets. The overall objective of this solution would be to increase revenues from entrance and other fees and to ensure that increased amounts of funding are available for protected areas management and infrastructure which is key to eco-tourism development. It would have a component focused on reviewing fees and one on ensuring increased funds flow to protected areas. Assuming entrance and other fee revenues could increase by 50% above current levels within three years, total cumulative net financial gains from the solution over the next 10 years would sum to approximately P201 million (US$19.1 million).

Mar 16, 2020

Climate Smart Agriculture 2019

The Climate Smart Agriculture Insights from Practice manual based on a three-and-a-half years project, involving Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security (MoADFS) Extension Staff and BITRI Researchers working with smallholder dryland arable farmers in Kgalagadi South and Barolong sub districts.