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Research on food security in Botswana has mainly focused on the country’s rural areas. Much less is known about the extent and nature of food insecurity in the country’s cities and towns. This makes it difficult for development practitioners and policy makers to quantify the challenge and make plans to reduce the food gap that exists in urban areas. In an effort to understand the extent and determinants of food insecurity in Gaborone, AFSUN undertook a baseline study of 400 households drawn from Old Naledi, White City/Bontleng and Broadhurst. Levels of food insecurity in these areas of Gaborone were high and, despite the economic health of Botswana compared to other SADC countries, no better than in many other cities. Only 12 % of households were completely food secure while 62 % were severely food insecure. Food insecurity is endemic in the poorer parts of Gaborone and Botswana’s ‘economic miracle’ is clearly not reaching many of these households.

<p>The study focused on quantifying the extent and sources of the deterioration of the vegetation cover of the study area at the Sudanese Blue Nile watershed in relation to agriculture extension policy, inefficient management and Lack of governmental policy. </p><p>The Research was based on forest and vegetation inventory and soil analysis to determine the current situation using ground survey, forest inventory and remote sensing data as well as secondary information from other sources to cover historical records from 1990 to 2015.</p><p>The results showed a significant change in natural ecosystems during the study period due to the change in the land use patterns. The Closed forests, open forests, and rural settlement areas were found to decrease by -90%, -43% and -32% respectively during the period (1990-2000). This negative trend was reflected in a positive trend showed by expansion in agriculture (+267%), horticulture (+73%), bare land (144%), and urban areas (12%). During the period (2010-2015), which was the civil war period, the area of closed forests, open forests and urban areas were increased, in comparison to that of 1990-2000) by 201,10, and 247% respectively, while that of agriculture, Rural areas, and bare lands is negative (-51, -54 and -68% respectively).</p><p>The major factor for the change is mainly attributed to the migration of rural people towards urban areas due to civil war and economic crises. In addition, it is expected that there are other factors such as the absence of clear plans and coordination between concerned government authorities, at local and national levels, which may need further investigations and studies to clear the whole picture.</p>

Over the years, Botswana, in southern Africa, has recorded good and impressive economic growth through its production of minerals and the cattle industry. Its successes have surpassed those of the neighbouring countries. Urban areas have been the main beneficiaries of economic success, and urbanisation has been extremely rapid. While population in designated urban areas now comprises 24% of the total population, more rural areas have acquired an urban character, with 45% of the population fulfilling the relevant demographic criteria. However, not all the urban people have been beneficiaries of the rapid economic growth, and urban poverty is slowly and noticeably creeping in. The latest Income and Expenditure Survey carried out in 1993/94 shows that for the country as a whole 59% of households live below the Poverty Datum Line(PDL) and in the urban areas the index was 30% (Central Statistical Office, Gaborone 1995).

Rural transformation involves a dynamic structural, cultural and economic transition of rural areas to a more economically viable society. This encourages the reduction of inequality, eradication of poverty and enhancement of the living conditions of rural dwellers. Rural areas from the agricultural perspective sustain the urban demand for food and despite this role, lacks basic infrastructural facilities, has a high level of illiteracy, poverty, low self-esteem, poor developmental initiatives and government incentives to spur their poor production to a more viable one. Perceptibly, civil society participation through initiatives and actions to attract amenities such as health care, educational and clean water infrastructures will enhance health care delivery, educational attainment and living standards of rural dwellers. And the mobilization rural dwellers for collective developmental action is an essential component of rural transformation. Also, leadership/advocacy training will enable rural leaders engage constructively with government and development partners to attract the needed developmental incentives aimed at transforming the rural society, help checkmate rural-urban migration and encourage production. Key words: Civil society, rural transformation, initiatives, development.

The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is expected to change our lives. One of the main players towards 4IR will be Internet of Things (IoT). The main limiting factor for minimum IoT application implementation in Sub-Saharan Africa rural areas is that many areas do not have communication infrastructures mainly due to budget constraints. Recently Long Range (LoRA) has been gaining research for such applications. In this paper we present the concept that multi-hop networks based on IEEE802.11 and Schedule before Contention Scheduling strategies can also provide backhaul communication infrastructure. The use of the RWS-AGE Strategy tested in multi-hop networks in this paper has shown a reduction in the number of collisions, packet loss and end-to-end latency compared to Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA).

Botswana, a landlocked country in southern Africa is bordered by Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. With an area of 582,000 km2 the country is slightly larger than France, or slightly smaller than the US state of Texas. Approximately two-thirds of the country lies within the Tropics. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name upon independence in 1966. The economy, one of the most robust on the continent, is dominated by diamond mining and cattle. The country is sparsely populated because up to 70% of the country is covered by the Kalahari Desert. Botswana’s population of 2.2 million people (in 2016) is concentrated in the eastern part of the country. It is touted that the country is urbanizing quite fast and today nearly, 60% of the people live in classified urban areas. Like most countries in Africa, spatial planning has been practiced bringing order to both urban as well as rural/regional spaces. Many concepts and paradigms have been used to create such spaces resulting in a myriad of all sorts of outcomes. This book chapter focuses on Botswana’s experience of spatial planning and challenges faced with the hope that lessons learnt could enlighten other countries in the continent in their quest for establishing sustainable urban settlements. The book chapter begins by looking at the evolution of spatial planning in Botswana before the colonial era, during the colonial era, and after Independence in 1966. Here, we shall highlight the concepts and approaches used and how they have shaped the urban space today. This will be followed by examining critical challenges facing spatial planning practice in both urban and rural areas especially in the areas of adoption of new urban planning paradigms, the African Urban Agenda 2030, inclusivity, sustainability, urban management, municipal finance, and plan implementation. This will be followed by an examination of the responses by both central government and municipal authorities to these challenges. In conclusion, many suggestions are offered to address these challenges and pave the way for some practical solutions. Lessons learnt from this experience will be shared by other countries in the region.

The tsetse fly (Glossina spp.) is only found in Africa and carries trypanosomes (the disease agents causing human sleeping sickness and animal trypanosomosisNagana), reaching their southern limits (particularly the morsitans group) in Botswana and Kwazulu Natal in South Africa. The tsetse fly transmitted disease is a serious problem in Sub-Saharan Africa and it is estimated that the removal of this disease could double livestock production and markedly increase cultivation levels. It is estimated that potential distribution of tsetse fly in Africa is 300,000 km2 (Mathiessen & douthwaite, 1985). Generally, the economic and social impacts of nagana and sleeping sickness on animal production and human health are severe, estimates put annual cattle production losses at US$2.7 billion and >55, 000 people dying from sleeping sickness annually (Budd, 1999). The disease is usually of chronic and debilitating form. It is essentially a problem in rural areas, where the threat and burden of such is a significant contributor to rural poverty and malnutrition. In Botswana, the tsetse infested area covered ≤ 5% but has had significant impact on livestock and human populations, particularly in Ngamiland and Chobe regions, largely because of the wet areas in an otherwise dry country. Prior to the rinderpest pandemic of 1896 which significantly reduced tsetse populations in much of east and southern Africa as a result of the critical loss of food source, the distribution of tsetse fly in Botswana had reached its historical limits of approximately >20,000 km2 (Ford, 1971; Jordon, 1986). As the tsetse populations recovered from the rinderpest epizootic the incidence of trypanosomosis increased. For instance, between 1949 and 1960, the cattle populations in Chobe District declined by ≤ 95% (Lambrecht, 1972). Ploughing along the flood plains is a common local practice in these areas, and whilst beneficial in the sense of optimal exploitation of soil moisture, this practice carries the risk of potential exposure of farm workers to tsetse fly bites. An average of 50 (geometric mean range = 13-272) trypanosomosis cases was recorded between 1957 and 1977 in Maun Hospital each year. Today the Okavango Delta, KwandoLinyanti-Chobe areas are the most important destinations for international tourists and one of the major sources of revenue for the country. The risk of sleeping sickness within these areas is perceived as potential threat to the tourism industry, both locally and nationally (RTTCP, 1995).

To be about 65% of Turkey's population under 40 years of age requires to increase employment opportunities for young people and them to be sustainable. Young people are moving away from agriculture due to lack of income, life difficulties in the villages and limited social facilities, fragmentation of the lands or too little, and lack of alternative employment opportunities in the countryside. Youths away from agriculture; it causes problems such as aging and decreasing of rural population. For these reasons, it is necessary to determine the tendency of the young people to stay in agriculture, the factors causing them to stay in agriculture or to leave. The aim of this study is to determine the tendency of the young people between the ages of 18-40 who have benefited from the Young Farmer Grant Support in Gaziantep and Sanliurfa provinces to stay in agriculture and migrate from rural to urban areas. The stratified sampling method was used in the sample selection. In the selected provinces, 72 farmers who benefited from grant support were interviewed and the data were collected through surveys. The data on the socio-demographic characteristics of the enterprises are presented with various descriptive statistics. According to the results of the study, 88.9% of young farmers stated that they would continue agricultural production. 39% of young farmers tend to migrate from rural to urban areas. One of the most important factors in ensuring sustainability in agriculture is the creation of an entrepreneurial young audience. For this reason, policies need to be developed by decision-makers to encourage youth to stay in agriculture.