Khama�s El Nino appeal reaches P12bn
Mbongeni Mguni | Thursday October 27, 2016 16:00
Of the funding released by donors thus far, none has been directed at Botswana, which in September added its own requirements of US$66.2 million (P700 million), two months after President Ian Khama launched the appeal in July.
Botswana needs US$83 million (P881 million) in total for 1.1 million people exposed by successive El Nino droughts in 2014/15 and 2015/16. Government has said it will self-fund US$16.8 million (P178.3 million) of the amount.
On Tuesday, visiting UN Special Envoy on El Nino and Climate, Macharia Kamau revealed the update on the July appeal, warning that more help was urgently needed ahead of a sensitive period coming around the New Year.
Kamau received the updates after a meeting with SADC executive secretary, Stergomena Tax in Gaborone on Monday.
“The executive secretary indicated that since July, they have received 47% of the funding required and we have a long way to go before we can achieve the rest,” Kamau said in response to Mmegi enquiries. “The gap needs to be filled and urgently. None of that donor funding has been for Botswana, which is a concern and we need to make sure Botswana benefits too.
“This crisis is only just beginning.
“There’s failure of crops now, but people still have a little food in their stores and governments have some reserves, but come December to January, those will have run out and the new crop will not yet be there.
“We expect the situation to be far worse by that time, than it is now,” he added.
When Khama, as SADC chair at the time, launched the regional appeal, 40 million people in the region were said to be food insecure, with 23 million in need of immediate assistance.
The region’s worst drought in 35 years left 10 out of the 15 SADC states requiring humanitarian assistance, as the crisis caused hunger, malnutrition and other health issues, power shortages and broader economic challenges for the region. Initially, Botswana and South Africa were absent from the appeal, suggesting they would self-finance their needs. However, both countries joined in September, with the explanation that they had delayed their assessments or under-estimated their need.
Kamau said there was a possibility that some donors believed Botswana was less affected in the crisis than other countries or that because the country has traditionally self-financed food security crises, it was better off than the region.
Traditionally, Botswana has dug deep into its own coffers to fund extreme weather crises at national level and in June 2015, released P454 million for drought relief.
“Donors must not think like that because it’s not healthy for Botswana,” the Special Envoy told Mmegi.
“There appears to be a belief that Botswana is doing well and it does not need as much support as other countries.”
Other donor community experts told Mmegi that another reason Botswana was behind in securing relief funding was because other regional states were more “aggressive and experienced” in securing commitments from donors.
“Countries like Lesotho, Malawi, Zimbabwe and others ask for assistance annually for food relief, health issues and others. They have established lines and methods.
“Botswana came late to the party this time around and is comparatively inexperienced or even hesitant in putting its hand out. It has not tested the channels for securing help as regularly as the other countries have.”
On July 26 when Khama launched the regional appeal, representatives from the United States, Britain, the European Union immediately stood up to announce regional support amounting to US$501.4 million (P5.4bn), while the United Nations said an initial US$41 million had been released from an emergency fund.