A comparison of the 2013 Botswana AIDS Impact Survey (BAIS) with the recently released 2022 version of the same study, shows that nearly all districts in the country have seen their HIV prevalence drop between the two periods.The BAIS is the...
Assistant Agriculture minister, Molebatsi Molebatsi is speaking to a room mostly composed of smallholder farmers and those involved in the agriculture supply chain such as seed and fertiliser manufacturers. It is unlikely that communal farmers, the...
With about 40,000 hectares of prime black cotton soil and one of the country’s highest average rainfall amounts, the Pandamatenga commercial agriculture area is an arable farming paradise. And this year the area has again delivered the goods for...
In September last year, the Department of Meteorological Services predicted that the country would experience good rains.The rains were to take place for the better part of December going into January this year. Farmers responded positively and...
It was all moving along swimmingly. After the Meteorological Services Department released its forecasts for the season, farmers actually saw the heavens open and the rains come down as predicted.“A moderately wet season is expected over the entire...
Kgosietsile Motlhabane, 40,Mmamairing, Mogobane“I planted maize, watermelons, sweet reed, beans, lab lab, and squash. The government is the one that did the planting for me and we ploughed two hectares.“I planted long back on December 27 but with...
“Greetings of the New Year my bro. Pls don’t forget us in Swaziland!”I received this message from Thulani Maseko last January, my final communication with him. At the time, Eswatini was still simmering from yet another outbreak of unrest from...
Mmegi: Kindly elaborate on the reasons for the visit to Botswana and what position this country holds in terms of strategic interest or importance to the European Union?Borrell: The EU and Botswana are like-minded partners.We share an excellent...
This situation is terrible for people living with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, HIV, hypertension and others, as the long-running shortage of drugs in public hospitals and clinics has forced them into an impossible choice: Buy your own or risk...
One of the reasons many politicians in Africa are resisting a fast-tracked transition from fossil fuels is because of the impact this will have on jobs and the associated social welfare, community economy and indicators such as poverty, disease,...
They may call each other ‘brothers’ and pass ‘fraternal greetings’ at every opportunity.And indeed they are. But African countries are also each other’s rivals for foreign investor attention, the kind that brings in capital, skills...
Oarabile*, a gay man in his early 20s never missed church as a child. “Once I started opening up about my sexuality, people started looking at me differently. I could see the disgust in their faces. My parents started being ashamed of me. They...
In Botswana, many girls and young women find themselves abandoned during pregnancy and after birth by their partners, left to raise their children alone. Due to poverty, young people find themselves in abusive relationships, dating sugar daddies...
At the recent global COP27 climate summit in Egypt, the EU reportedly drew a line in the desert sands.The world’s most influential body politic threatened to walk out of the Egypt talks in frustration over weak climate commitments, including...
Implementation challenges have dogged government for decades, costing the country billions of Pula in direct and opportunity costs, but more importantly denying citizens of services and forestalling their economic aspirations.At its heart, poor...
The Minister of Health (MoH) Edwin Dikoloti announced that Botswana has approved the use of injectable anti-retroviral drugs to improve adherence to HIV treatment, becoming just the second country in Africa to do so. Taking a pill every day at a...
United Nations Climate Change High-Level Champion's special advisor, Bogolo Kenewendo, reports that at the Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt climate change summit, a trend was seen amongst some of the activists.“There is actually a badge that has been...
Experts advise that even though nearly everyone is going through a lot, it is important to talk out our problems than bottling them in. Keeping one’s troubles to oneself often results in individuals resorting to drug and alcohol abuse or even...
At the time of writing, Environment and Tourism minister, Philda Kereng and her team would have been wrapping up their debates at the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES) and preparing to pack their bags to return...
Reporters can attest to this; you never forget your first byline in the newspaper. Even to this day, I still love seeing my byline in the newspaper. My first article in the newspaper was a travelogue. I had gruelled my body by walking about 120km in...