Botswana rural sector study

to define a framework for a proposed 3-year Rural Development Sector Grant from A.I.D. to the Government of Botswana (GOB) to improve productivity and generate employment in rural Botswana. This report presents the study"s findings and recommendations. Part I reviews rural development policy and programs in Botswana, examines GOB commitment to a rural development strategy focused on production and employment, and discusses the rationale behind the proposed framework. Part II describes proposed activities for the first year of the grant, including integrated land use plans, land board development, a water points survey, horticultural development, rural afforestation, wildlife management and utilization, rural industry activities, and small projects. Part III provides supporting analyses of planning and implementation capacities, manpower and training issues, economic constraints, and the sociocultural aspects of rural development in Botswana. It is recommended that: (1) A.I.D. provide a grant of $3.78 million; (2) a Rural Development Fund be established and administered by the GOB"s Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, to which A.I.D. would successively contribute $700,000, $1 million, and $1.3 million during the grant period; (3) projects eligible for support be determined jointly each year by the GOB and USAID/B, the GOB having first approved the proposed projects and established their funding requirements; (4) a senior rural industrial officer provide technical advice to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for a period of 3 person-years, budgeted at $100,000 per person-year; (5) short-term technical assistance be provided as requested and specified in the annual implementation plans (requirements have been estimated at 24 person-months in the first year and 12 person-months in the second and third years, at $10,000 per person-month); (6) a project paper be prepared incorporating the implementation plan for year one and anticipating the obligation of first-year funds; and (7) USAID/B be authorized to obligate funds at the beginning of each succeeding year, upon approval of the annual implementation plan.