This paper outlines the current state of environmental legislation and administration in Botswana, identifying the various problems with that system. Those problems include fragmented and overlapping administration and out-dated legislation that is not in keeping with modem, holistic approaches to environmental management, ineffective and unreliable enforcement, compounded by rampant non-compliance. The paper then considers some the developments that are being made to improve this situation, including: the conversion of the environmental agency into a department and the introduction of an over-reaching environmental Act, preparation of a wetlands conservation strategy, the introduction of environmental impact assessment legislation. The paper concludes by querying the effectiveness of those developments when unsustainable attitudes continue to predominate in the country / Law / LL.M.

This study was undertaken in order to investigate negative classroom behaviour in schools in Botswana. Recommendations based on the findings of the study were made to the participating schools and interested stakeholders. A qualitative approach was adopted to investigate the research questions in four schools selected for the study. The data collection methods used were observation, document analysis, participant interviews and focus group interviews. Participant and research site confidentiality was ensured and all interviews were transcribed and organised in such a way that the key points pertinent to the study were highlighted. This study provided valuable information for future studies investigating disruptive classroom behaviour and intervention methods. / Educational Foundations / M. Ed. (Socio-Education)

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi. Aflatoxins and fumonisins are among the most toxic mycotoxins. They are a significant risk factor for a cocktail of chronic health conditions including cancer of the liver, oesophagus and kidney, teratogenicity, neural tube defects, interference with lipid metabolism, a weakened immune system and a negative impact on micronutrient absorption in both man and animals. This study compared natural contamination of peanuts, peanut butter and sorghum from Gaborone, Botswana and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe with aflatoxins and fumonisins. In total 34 peanut samples, 34 sorghum samples and 11 peanut butter samples were collected randomly from retail shops and informal markets in the two cities. Fungal contamination was determined using standard mycology methods. Aflatoxin and fumonisin contamination was determined using HPLC-FLD. A. flavus/parasiticus species were detected in 66% and 100% of randomly analysed peanut samples from Bulawayo and Gaborone respectively and 27% (3/11) of peanut butter samples from Bulawayo. 67% of randomly analysed sorghum samples from Bulawayo showed A. flavus/parasiticus and Fusarium species contamination while none of the randomly analysed sorghum samples from Gaborone showed any fungal contamination. Furthermore aflatoxins were not detected in any of the sorghum samples; however 61% (11/18) of the Bulawayo sorghum samples showed fumonisin contamination (Range: 8 – 187 ng/g). Three of the peanut samples from Bulawayo were contaminated with aflatoxins (range: 6.6 – 622 ng/g) and no aflatoxins were detected in Gaborone peanuts. All 11 peanut butter samples from Bulawayo were contaminated with aflatoxins (Mean: 73.5 ng/g, Range: 6.8-250 ng/g) and AFB1 was the most prevalent. These preliminary results indicate that peanut butter and peanuts from Bulawayo are contaminated with high levels of aflatoxins. Stricter policing of regulations should be implemented to ensure compliance by manufacturers and public health interventions implemented in vulnerable communities. / Life & Consumer Sciences / M. Sc. (Life Sciences)

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In many countries privatisation has been embraced as an economic policy that serves almost as a panacea for many economic problems. In general the rationale is assumed to be that of welfare improvement. It is also expected to improve governments' macroeconomic position because state enterprises are frequently loss making and hence receivers of government funds. Privatisation is also perceived to contribute to the development of weak or non-existent capital markets to enhance domestic savings mobilization. Africa's investment climate and potential for economic growth have improved remarkably and although Africa accounts for only a small fraction of worldwide privatisation activities, privatisation is on the increase as more governments realize that the old ways of state ownership have failed to deliver the goods. Hardly any African country does not have some sort of privatisation in the pipeline. Botswana, which is the main focus of this paper, launched its privatisation programme in 1998, when the Cabinet adopted the privatisation policy. Privatisation has also been triggered by the increasing globalization of the world economy. Rapid growth in international trade and investment has made competitiveness in international trade an essential factor in a nation's ability to create jobs, raise real wages and generate wealth. For many African countries, privatisation has become the only effective method of raising investment capital on favourable terms. High levels of past public sector borrowing have burdened many nations with large levels of debt. Although privatisation efforts differ substantially from country to country, there is a strong common economic rationale underlying the various decisions to privatise. African countries privatise for solutions to immediate financial, economic or political crises and due to the demands of International Donor Agencies, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Privatisation in Botswana is different in the sense that it has come from the desire to improve efficiency in the delivery of services, promote competition and increase productivity of enterprises. Advocates of globalization promote the efficiencies of speed and technology and the benefits of privatisation as the best approach to economic development, based on an assumption that it is better for all nations to have a well-connected international network to achieve goals of economic development. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In baie lande word privatisering as 'n ekonomiese beleid aangegryp as 'n wondermiddel vir talle ekonomiese probleme. Oor die algemeen word aangeneem dat die grondrede hiervoor die verbetering van welsyn is. Daar word ook verwag dat dit die regering se makro-ekonomiese posisie sal verbeter, aangesien staatsondernemings dikwels verliese ly en dus ontvangers van staatsfondse is. Privatisering dra klaarblyklik ook by tot die ontwikkeling van swak of nie-bestaande kapitaalmarkte ten einde plaaslike spaarpogings aan te moedig. Afrika se beleggingsklimaat en potensiaal vir ekonomiese groei het merkwaardig verbeter en alhoewel Afrika vir slegs 'n geringe gedeelte van wêreldwye privatiseringsaktiwiteite verantwoordelik is, is privatisering aan die toeneem namate regerings besef dat die ou stelsel van staatseienaarskap nie suksesvol is nie. Byna alle Afrikalande het een of ander vorm van privatisering aan die kom. Botswana, wat die hooffokus van hierdie studieprojek is, het in 1998 sy privatiseringsprogramme van stapel gestuur toe die Kabinet die privatiseringsbeleid goedgekeur het. Privatisering word ook aangehelp deur die toenemende globalisering van die wêreldekonomie. Snelle groei in internasionale handel en investering maak mededingendheid in internasionale handel 'n noodsaaklike faktor in 'n land se vermoë om werk te skep, reële lone te verhoog en welvaart te genereer. Vir baie Afrikalande het privatisering die enigste doeltreffende manier geword om beleggingkapitaal op gunstige voorwaardes te verkry. As gevolg van hoë vlakke van openbaresektorlenings in die verlede sit talle nasies opgesaal met groot skuldvlakke. Alhoewel privatiseringspogings aansienlik van land tot land verskil, is daar 'n sterk onderliggende gemeenskaplike ekonomiese grondrede vir die onderskeie besluite om te privatiseer. Afrikalande privatiseer as 'n oplossing vir onmiddellike finansiële, ekonomiese of politieke krisisse en weens die eise van internasionale skenkerorganisasies soos die Wêreldbank en die Internasionale Monetêre Fonds. Privatisering in Botswana verskil in dié opsig dat dit spruit uit die behoefte om doeltreffendheid te verbeter in die lewering van dienste, mededinging aan te moedig en die produktiwiteit van ondernemings te verhoog. Voorstanders van globalisering ondersteun die doeltreffendheid van spoed en tegnologie en die voordele van privatisering as die beste benadering vir ekonomiese ontwikkeling, gegrond op die aanname dat dit vir alle nasies beter is om 'n effektiewe internasionale netwerk te hê om doelwitte van ekonomiese ontwikkeling te bereik.

Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Although Botswana is considered by some indices as an economically successful country, poverty is experienced by 30% of the population. This is considered a very high poverty rate especially when it is compared to other countries on a similar level of economic development. Several policies have been put in place by the Botswana government to relieve the consequences of poverty. One of these policies, the destitute policy, targeted those individuals who are disabled and/or unable to engage in sustainable economic activities, causing such individuals to have insufficient assets and income sources. It was found by the Botswana government that the implementation of the destitute policy aggravates dependency of the destitute on government support. As a result, development workers were expected to lead registered destitute to independence through the implementation of a destitute rehabilitation programme. However, literature suggested that approaches that are used by development workers to enable individuals to engage in sustainable economic activities are often detrimental to the very empowerment purposes that such workers set out to achieve. The objective of this research was therefore to develop a conceptual framework for capacity enhancement of development workers in Botswana. This objective was addressed through applying action research in order to gain in-depth understanding of the perspectives, practices and experiences of the key role players involved in destitute rehabilitation. This was done in one urban district, one semi-urban district and one rural district council in Botswana. This research took place in four phases, all of which were informed by the action research approach. The first phase comprised four cycles of action research. Each cycle encouraged reflection and observation on destitute rehabilitation practices and planning towards improved practices, followed by implementation. It became evident to the researcher that only singleloop learning was practiced by the development workers. Therefore, instead of gaining deeper insight into aspects that influence destitute rehabilitation, the same problems related to destitute rehabilitation practices were repeated by development workers. Reflection on this process created understanding by the researcher on why the expected results were not achieved. Based on this reflection, a literature review was carried out in iv Phase II to develop the final theoretical and methodological frameworks for this research. Phase III consisted of focus group discussions to understand the perspectives, practices and experiences of the different role players in destitute rehabilitation. The data produced in Phase III enabled understanding of how development workers’ capacity was influenced by the system within which they are operating. The results of this research showed that development workers saw themselves in the same state of powerlessness as the destitute and as not being able to influence the system within which they are operating. Phase IV comprised the application of the coding principles of grounded theory to make sense of data related to Phases I and III, followed by the application of critical systems heuristics to make further sense of the data. Based on the understanding that emerged through the application of CSH, a conceptual framework was developed for the capacity enhancement of development workers in Botswana. It became evident in this research that the challenge for the government of Botswana is to not only reduce the number of registered destitute, but to redesign the system within which destitute rehabilitation takes place, by using the conceptual framework developed in this research. The purpose of the conceptual framework is to enable policy-makers and development workers to scrutinise the whole system within which destitute rehabilitation is implemented by engaging the key role players in dialogue on adjustments that need to be made to the system to enhance development workers’ capacity in destitute rehabilitation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Alhoewel Botswana, gemeet aan sekere maatstawe, as ’n ekonomies suksesvolle land beskou word, leef 30% van die bevolking tans in armoede. Dit kan as ’n buitensporig hoë graad van armoede beskou word, veral as dit vergelyk word met lande met ’n soortgelyke vlak van ekonomiese ontwikkeling. Verskeie beleide is deur die Botswana-regering in werking gestel om die gevolge van armoede te bekamp. Een van die beleide, die sogenaamde beleid vir behoeftige persone, is spesifiek gerig op individue met ’n tekort aan bates of inkomstebronne veroorsaak deur gestremdheid en/of ’n onvermoë om aan volhoubare ekonomiese aktiwiteite deel te neem. Die Botswana-regering het egter bevind dat die implementering van hierdie beleid behoeftiges se afhanklikheid van regeringshulp vererger. As gevolg hiervan word daar van ontwikkelingswerkers verwag om geregistreerde behoeftiges na onafhanklikheid te lei deur die implementering van ’n program vir die rehabilitasie van behoeftiges. Die bevindings uit beskikbare literatuur dui egter daarop dat die metodes wat deur ontwikkelingswerkers gebruik word om behoeftiges in staat te stel om aan volhoubare ekonomiese aktiwiteite deel te neem dikwels ’n negatiewe uitwerking ten opsigte van die beoogde bemagtigingsoogmerke het. Die doel van hierdie navorsing was dus die ontwikkeling van ’n konsepraamwerk vir kapasiteitbou vir ontwikkelingswerkers in Botswana. Die mikpunt is benader deur aksienavorsing toe te pas om ’n grondige begrip te verkry van die perspektiewe, praktyke en ondervindings van al die rolspelers betrokke by die rehabilitasie van behoeftiges. Die navorsing het volgens die aksienavorsingsbenadering in vier fases in een stedelike, een newe-stedelike en een landelike distriksraad in Botswana plaasgevind. Die eerste fase het vier siklusse van aksienavorsing behels. Elke siklus het reflektering en observasie met betrekking tot ontwikkelingswerkers se bestaande rehabilitasiepraktyke aangemoedig. Dit is gevolg deur beplanning vir verbeterde praktyke en implementering van die beplande aksie. Dit het vir die navorser duidelik geword dat slegs enkellus-leer deur ontwikkelingswerkers toegepas is. In stede daarvan om ’n dieper insig in die aspekte wat die rehabilitasie van behoeftiges beïnvloed te verkry, is dieselfde problematiese praktyke met die rehabilitasie van behoeftiges telkens deur die ontwikkelingswerkers herhaal. Nabetragting oor die proses het die navorser die redes laat verstaan hoekom die verwagte resultate nie behaal is nie. Gebaseer op hierdie nabetragting is ’n literatuurstudie tydens Fase II uitgevoer om die finale teoretiese raamwerk en metodologie raamwerk vir die navorsing te ontwikkel. Fase III het fokusgroep-besprekings ingesluit om die perspektiewe, praktyke en ondervindings van die verskillende rolspelers tydens die rehabilitasie van behoeftiges beter te verstaan. Die gegewens verkry gedurende Fase III het die navorser insig gegee in die wyse waarop ontwikkelingswerkers se kapasiteit beïnvloed word deur die stelsel waarbinne hulle werk. Die resultate van hierdie navorsing het getoon dat ontwikkelingswerkers hulself beskou as in dieselfde toestand van magteloosheid as die behoeftiges, en dat dit vir hulle onmoontlik is om die stelsel waarbinne hulle werksaam is te beïnvloed. Fase IV het begin met die toepassing van koderingsbeginsels van gegronde teorie ter opklaring van gegewens verkry tydens Fases I en III, gevolg deur die toepassing van kritieke stelsel-heuristiek, ’n stelsel-denke-benadering, om die gegewens van Fase I en III te integreer. Die insig wat verkry is deur die toepassing van kritieke stelsel heuristiek het bygedra tot die ontwikkeling van die konsepraamwerk vir die kapasiteitsbou van ontwikkelingswerkers in Botswana. Dit het uit hierdie navorsing geblyk dat die uitdaging vir die Botswana-regering nie net is om die aantal geregistreerde behoeftiges te verminder nie, maar om ook die huidige stelsel waaronder die rehabilitasie van behoeftiges plaasvind, te herontwikkel deur die konsepraamwerk wat in hierdie navorsing ontwerp is, te implementeer. Die doel van die konsepraamwerk is om beleidmakers en ontwikkelingswerkers in staat te stel om die rehabilitasiestelsel van behoeftiges te bestudeer deur al die rolspelers in dialoog te betrek sodat veranderinge aan die stelsel gemaak kan word vir kapasiteitsbou van die ontwikkelingswerkers.

The HIV and AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa calls a great national and global response in order to face the challenges associated with the illness for the individual, households, community and future of nations. The disease has led to an increased number of orphans and other vulnerable children in Botswana where the non-governmental organizations stand for social service delivery to these children. However, this is not without challenges and pressure for adaption from other organizations. The NGO staff members carry out their work within this organizational context between a variety of influences and relations that are reflected in terms of challenges they define. A wide range of strategies are used by the actors and organizations to deal with these barriers. Therefore, it is of importance to explore the NGO staff member’s experiences of their work in relation to an institutional perspective, which this study intends to do. The focus of the analysis was on separating the material into categories that answer the research aim by using influences from the coding process of grounded theory. The results demonstrated that the NGOs work within local and global tensions in their organizational fields including the ability to preserve traditional practices and adapt to international changes. This for the organizations to be able to gain legitimacy, receive funds and continue to provide their services to orphans and other vulnerable children in the country. / HIV och AIDS-epidemin i subsahariska Afrika kräver en omfattande nationell och global respons för att möta de utmaningar som är förknippade med sjukdomen för individen, hushåll, samhället och nationers framtid. Sjukdomen har lett till ett ökat antal föräldralösa och andra utsatta barn i Botswana där icke-statliga organisationer står för utförande av sociala tjänster och vård till dessa barn. Detta är dock inte utan utmaningar och påtryckningar om anpassning från andra organisationer. De icke-statliga organisationernas personal utför sitt arbete inom detta organisatoriska sammanhang mellan en mängd olika influenser och relationer som återspeglas i utmaningar vilka de definierar. Ett brett utbud av strategier används av de aktörer och organisationer för att ta itu med dessa hinder. Därför är det av vikt att utforska icke-statliga organisationer och specifikt personalens erfarenheter av sitt arbete i förhållande till ett institutionellt perspektiv, vilket denna studie avser att göra. Fokus för analysen var att separera materialet i kategorier som svarar på syftet genom att använda influenser från kodningsprocessen av ”grundad teori”. Resultatet visade att organisationerna arbetar inom lokala och globala spänningar i deras organisatoriska fält, inkluderande en vilja att bevara traditionella sedvänjor men samtidigt anpassa sig till internationella förändringar. Detta för att de icke-statliga organisationerna ska kunna uppnå legitimitet, få finansiering och fortsätta att tillhandahålla sina tjänster till föräldralösa och utsatta barn i landet.

The hilltop archaeological site, Bosutswe in Botswana had a nearly a thousand years of continuous occupation. Nearly every single strata in both precincts produced shell beads of various materials and origin. By using travelogue sources as well as more recent enthnographical sources, I focus on the possible uses and importance of beads to the people of Bosutswe and the wider southern African region. Using the excavated beads as evidence, I show how certain varieties of beads made their way to the site by way of trade routes with distant riverine areas. Also, I compare my findings with arguments claiming that different groups preferred different sizes beads; therefore, one can determine a site’s ethnic makeup by this measurement alone. / text

Since the 1980's, few have included sub-Saharan African in worldwide comparative discussion of complex societies. This exclusion is at the expense of challenging embedded notions of the development of complexity. The trading polity Bosutswe (700-1700 AD) at the eastern edge of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and its surrounding region provide a perfect example of why this is important. In the Bosutswe region, complexity was not be driven by external factors, elites, or the core, but arose from local actors and out of localized contexts. During its occupation, Bosutswe became increasingly involved with long-distance trade in the Indian Ocean exchange network, linking trade from the African coast to the interior. At Bosutswe, glass beads associated with long-distance trade and local ostrich eggshell beads attest to a strong local economy supported by cattle herding, subsistence farming, and iron and bronze manufacture. This trade with Bosutswe peaked from 1200-1450 AD, when social stratification at Bosutswe became spatially and materially evident. This dissertation focuses on Bosutswe's trajectory through the point of view of two nearby settlements, Khubu la Dintša (1220-1420 AD) and Mmadipudi Hill (~550-1200 AD), to reconstruct the local economy and landscape. Expanding the concept of the polity to one situated in a landscape of human and environmental interchange provides a key comparative insight to other studies of complex societies and variable trajectories of societal development. The Bosutswe landscape and by extension Iron Age southern Africa can be conceptualized as a patchwork of landmark hilltop polity centers on a scrub desert landscape of agropastoral activity surrounded by smaller hilltop and ground sites. The local dynamic may have involved strategies by Bosutswe to mitigate environmental characteristics of low rainfall, opportunistic hunting and herding opportunities for the surrounding communities, and alliances between these communities for security in a politically unstable era. Everyday life would have involved issues about land use, as over time herders and farmers exhausted pastures, soil fertility, and firewood. Treating these early polities as landscapes of human, animal, and environmental relationships will help revise the way early complex societies are conceptualized: not as individual sites, but as local landscapes of power. / text

Existing variance studies of venture capital (VC) provide an incomplete understanding of VC emergence, emphasizing either macro-level enabling conditions or the efficient fund-level operation of the VC cycle. While important, such perspectives do not provide for a complete understanding of the systemic, processual character of VC emergence. A multistage process model of emergence is developed, linking industry structural characteristics and their underlying processes to precursor resources through the intermediate processes of coproduction and diffusion. Using data from multiple embedded case studies in South Africa and Botswana, this model integrates four processes--simultaneity, coproduction, diffusion, and the VC cycle. These processes are linked by a logic that is dominated by initial conditions and includes elements of rational choice (conditioned by path dependence) and altruism. The establishment of appropriate simultaneity conditions enables the diffusion of the established VC model and related institutions from other populations. In the presence of a market failure, government investors and private fund managers can then cooperate to fill the equity gap, creating the signal necessary for replication of additional VC funds through the functioning of the VC cycle.

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited / Botswana has been hailed as a "model of success", an "African Miracle" and a "rare bird in Africa" because of its economic prosperity record and democratic achievements in a region of sharp contrasts. A well-developed bureaucracy, selfless leadership and a favorable diamond-led economy have been identified as the main drivers of this success. Its military has earned international acclaim for being professional, well trained and highly disciplined. Organized into four chapters, this thesis recognizes these achievements, but draws the reader to an equally important aspect of statecraft, the underdevelopment of a defense bureaucracy, that may undermine the country's democratic gains and its economic prosperity. Chapter I proposes an institutionalist conceptual framework to the contemporary landscape of civil-military relations. Chapter II locates the evolution of the military within the template of statecraft, highlighting professionalization as a strategy of military development in the absence of a coherent defense bureaucracy and weak institutions of democratic oversight. The chapter underlines potential dangers of this institutional matrix to civil-military relations and governance. Chapter III captures the evolution of the state amidst elite cohesion and decontraction, demonstrating how these contrasts affect governance in general and civilmilitary relations in particular. Finally, Chapter IV advances a new institutional matrix for democratic control of the military. / Captain, Botswana Defense Force