Mmegi

The right to food: Botswana’s unfulfilled promise

Basic needs: Quality nutrition is a perennial challenge throughout Africa PEOPLESIMAGES.COM
Basic needs: Quality nutrition is a perennial challenge throughout Africa PEOPLESIMAGES.COM

The country is debating the establishment of a Constitutional Court. Others want the right to health included in the Constitution, given the ongoing crisis. Mothers, meanwhile, are struggling just to simply feed their children. NNASARETHA KGAMANYANE writes

With food prices soaring and unemployment rampant, Olerato Montsho’s story is a stark reminder of Botswana's crippling food insecurity crisis."I'm forced to buy whatever is cheapest," says Montsho* her eyes welling up with tears. "My son is always sick, and I know it is because he is not eating right."

Montsho's plight is a familiar one in Botswana, where 49.4% of the population faces moderate to severe food insecurity. The country's reliance on imports and lack of investment in local agriculture has worsened the problem over the years.

Editor's Comment
WUC must fix its pipes, not just say sorry

“Clean water, the essence of life and a birthright for everyone, must become available to all people now.”– Michel CousteauWe see notices for Block 6, Extension 11, Gaborone, Francistown; the list grows every week. It is good that WUC warns consumers, but so many warnings point to a deep problem. Water pipes are old and falling apart. And the people who pay the bills are the ones suffering.When a main pipe bursts, taps run dry. Families in...

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