Browsing Okavango Research Institute (ORI) by Subject "Ngamiland"
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Mazvimavi, D.; Mmopelwa, G. (Elsevier, www.elsevier.com/locate/pce, NaN, 2006)[more][less]
Abstract: Lack of access to safe or improved water supply in developing countries is a major global concern, since water is a basic need for sustenance. Programmes aimed at improving access to safe water have been implemented in several sub-Saharan countries. In Botswana, only gazetted settlements have access to water and other basic services provided by the government. This paper examined the level of access to safe water, effort required, and problems encountered in collecting water by households in ungazetted settlements. The paper also investigated whether households in these settlements were willing to pay for improving access to water. The study has been undertaken on settlements located along the Boteti River in the North West District of Botswana. The majority of households in ungazetted settlements satisfy their domestic water requirements through abstracting untreated water from river flows and hand-dug wells when the river is not flowing. Men dominate in collecting water in ungazetted settlements, with the most dominant mode of transporting water being the use of donkey carts. The dominance of men in water collection and use of donkey carts is due to water sources being too distant from homesteads. This has resulted in low water consumption levels, with the per capita water consumption being less than 20 l/capita/ day for most households. Such low levels of water consumption adversely affect attainment of desirable personal hygiene and food preparation. The opportunity cost of time for water collection has been estimated at 1.80 Botswana Pula (P) and the price of water is estimated to be P18/m3 (1.00 P = 0.1755 USD on 18 November 2005). This is higher than the price paid by households residing in rural settlements obtaining water from government or district council water supply schemes. The majority of the households were willing to make a once-off contribution towards improving access to potable water with the mean willingness to pay (WTP) being P161 per household, or just over a third of the statutory agricultural minimum wage in Botswana, P589/month. The potential contribution by household to an improved water supply is significant for a largely unemployed rural population. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/502 Files in this item: 1
Mazvimavi2006WaterAccess.pdf (1.377Mb) -
Swatuk, L.A.; Kgomotso, P.K. (Elsevier, www.elsevier.com/locate/pce, NaN, 2007)[more][less]
Abstract: Supplying adequate water and sanitation facilities to small, scattered rural communities and/or large, fast growing settlements in remote areas is a challenge not easily met anywhere in the world. This article focuses on just such a challenge in the remote, rural area of Ngamiland District in north-western Botswana. Drawing on a combination of critical analysis of government and secondary data, participant observation, and key stakeholder interviews conducted over the period 2004–2006, the article shows that despite a good aggregate record of supplying water and sanitation throughout the country, there are abiding, often serious, problems with supply in remote areas. The research reveals that due to a combination of limited human and financial resource capacity, government policy that deliberately under-serves remote areas in order to encourage resettlement, and complacence among key decision-takers, supply problems go unresolved. The article suggests four key interventions as possible ways forward: using the Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP) process as a guiding framework for institutional reform; linking research directly to human resource capacity development; treating water as both a social and an economic good; and soliciting an IWRM ‘champion’ to drive the political process. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/501 Files in this item: 1
Swatuk2007WATERSUPPLY.pdf (1.584Mb) -
Swatuk, L.A.; Motsholapheko, M. (Elsevier, www.elsevier.com/locate/pce, NaN, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: The Boteti River is an ephemeral outflow of the Okavango River. It lies in the north-western part of Botswana where about 25,000 people reside across a number of widely scattered villages and informal settlements. The river, with its seasonal streams and pans, is vital to the livelihoods of these people, their livestock, and the wildlife that share this physical space. A combination of factors has led to widespread degradation of the physical resource base – both in the river bed itself and in the wider environment. As part of its outreach role, the Harry Oppeheimer Okavango Research Centre has undertaken a multi-year project along the Boteti River to assist people there with the rehabilitation of their resource base. The globally influential concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) provides the analytical framework, in particular its emphasis on dialogue and stakeholder participation. The project has three primary aspects: facilitation of a dialogue platform; action-research; outreach and information dissemination. After two years of implementation, the project has collected a good deal of data and established a River Basin Forum with a common vision. However, the project continues to face difficulties in implementation: participation is limited; myths regarding resource degradation are difficult to dispel; meaningful communication among differently empowered actors is hard to achieve; and there are numerous human, financial and technological limitations. The primary researchers continue to alter their methods in the hope of achieving a functioning River Basin Committee (RBC), but observe that the globalized ideals of IWRM are, in this particular case at least, of limited use when attempting to alter localized management practices in basins with deeply embedded social and cultural practices. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/504 Files in this item: 1
Motsholapheko2008IntegratedWater.pdf (1.154Mb) -
Kgathi, D.L.; Ngwenya, B.N. (Botswana Society, http://www.botsoc.org.bw, NaN, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Ngamiland over the past ten years. It shows that CBNRM has made some strides in strengthening and creating new organisations/ institutions, empowering local communities, creating social networks and improving the institutional capacity of community trusts. Communities receive benefits from employment opportunities, social infrastructure, provision of transport, and assistance on meeting the costs of funerals. However, the contribution of most of the benefits to livelihood diversification is limited as they mainly accrue to the communities rather than individuals. The programme faces many challenges, such as limited institutional capacity for running organizations, insecurity of tenure, stakeholder conflicts, mismanagement of funds, and problems of how to use and equitably distribute the financial benefits to individual households. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/965 Files in this item: 1
Kgathi2005 CBNRM.pdf (2.852Mb) -
VanderPost, C. (Botswana Society, http://www.botsoc.org.bw, NaN, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: During the years 1849 to 1900 the first maps of (portions of) the Okavango Delta region in Ngamiland were produced by missionaries, explorers, travellers and adventurers. Considerable progress was made from the first attempt by Livingstone and Oswell in 1849 to the work by Passarge at the turn of the 20th century. There were great improvements in the positional accuracy of Lake Ngami, the initial attraction of the region, and many of the river courses and other features in the Okavango-Ngamiland region, as maps became much more detailed. This paper describes the progress from the first rather inaccurate mapping attempts to the more sophisticated work produced just before the turn of the 20th century when the word ‘Okavango’ actually began to appear on maps. These early mapping efforts laid the foundation for the cartography of the colonial era. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/955 Files in this item: 1
VanderPost 2005 Early maps.pdf (2.241Mb)
Now showing items 1-5 of 5