📋 Tender Overview
On May 24, 2024, the Rural Development Secretariat under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development issued a report urging support due to the devastating impact of drought on food security drivers, nutrition, water supplies, and food production. The report highlighted a significant decline in crop yields, with a drop from 206,572 tons harvested in 2021/22 to 125,184 tons in 2022/23. Cereal production in 2022/23 reached only 67,530 tons, which is equivalent to just 23% of the national requirement. The 2022/23 cropping season experienced low and highly erratic rainfall, along with extended dry periods, severely impacting food and agricultural production, disrupting urban water supplies, and damaging the rural economy and socio-cultural structures. As a result, the nation is experiencing significant chronic food insecurity, with over 10% of the population facing food and nutrition problems.
The country has experienced dry spells and rainfall deficits in recent years, leading the government to declare a drought emergency in July 2023. This marks the third consecutive year of severe drought, affecting arable agricultural land in a context where 70% of the rural population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods, primarily through rain-fed farming. Since then, 163,000 people have been categorized as food insecure. The SADC Synthesis Report on The State of Food and Nutrition Security and Vulnerability in Southern Africa indicated that 37,000 individuals in Botswana are experiencing food insecurity in 2024.
The El Niño drought effect in Southern Africa has further exacerbated the already critical drought situation. According to the Southern Africa Seasonal Monitor report, Botswana is currently experiencing El Niño conditions, leading to severe rain deficits and challenging harvest conditions across most of the region, with dry spells expected to persist. In May 2024, the Heads of State from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) held an Extraordinary Summit to address the cumulative challenges posed by El Niño-induced droughts and floods, specifically focusing on Botswana. The summit emphasized the impacts of climate change in the region, particularly the effects of El Niño-induced droughts and disasters on the economy, health, water resources, and energy sector. The government of Botswana expressed concerns about imminent food and livestock feed shortages due to unfavorable weather conditions impacting crop production, predicting a difficult period ahead. Drawing comparisons to the severe droughts of the 1980s, the summit underscored the potential for the current situation to replicate that crisis and called for partners to invest in mitigating the situation. In response to the crisis, the Botswana Red Cross has launched a DREF intervention, considering the above context and in response to various calls for action from the government
