Okavango Delta Management Plan - Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

According to 2001 census, the population of Ngamiland was approximately 124 712 (see
Table 2-1) of which seventy six percent (91 978) was based in the <strong>Okavango</strong> <strong>Delta</strong> area,
(Meyer et. al., 2006). During the inter-censal decades, 1981 – 1991, 1991 – 2001, the
population of Ngamiland increased by 3.3 % and 2.8 % respectively. The reduction of the
population growth rate from 3.3% to 2.8% is partly attributed to HIV and AIDS (Majelantle,
2003).
According to the Botswana AIDS Impact Survey of 2004, the HIV prevalence rate amongst
pregnant women in Ngamiland was; 35.3 %, 40.7% and 40.9% for the years of 2001, 2002
and 2003 respectively. The disaggregated prevalence rate (year ??) by age was as follows:
15-19 yrs = 26.0 %
20-24 yrs =37.2 %
25-29 yrs =48.7%
30-34 yrs = 40.4 %
35-39 yrs = 41.4 %
2.6.2 GENDER
According to the 2001 Botswana Population and Housing Census, Botswana’s population is
about 1.7 million. Within the Ngamiland district, the population is 121 924 and out of this
there are 58 199 males and 63 725 females, of which 36 833 are rural women (57.8 %).
Livelihood activities for females are arable farming , fishing and gathering of veld products,
formal and informal employment whereas males are into pastoral farming, fishing and
employment (formal and informal) as means of livelihood. The responsibilities for livelihood
are traditionally determined. This has resulted in women being over-represented among the
poor. Most people in rural areas depend on natural resources for livelihood and the
majority are women.
2.6.3 POVERTY
Ngamiland is the poorest district in the country and largely rural (C.S.O., 2003). The
district presents a multi-ethnic setting with a diversity of cultures and ethnic groups that
pursue different livelihoods and use resources differently.
Large parts of the district’s population still depend directly on the utilisation of natural
resources of the <strong>Delta</strong> for subsistence. Fishing, hunting, livestock grazing, floodplain
cultivation and collection of veld products and raw materials for building, fuel, and the
production of handicrafts are important elements of the local economy.
Arable agriculture is practised in Ngamiland mainly at a subsistence level, as soils and
climate are generally not well suited for crop production. At the fringes of the <strong>Okavango</strong>
<strong>Delta</strong> small-scale flood recession farming (molapo) is practiced locally. The grazing
resources are generally good in the dry land areas. However, the availability of water and
the occurrence of tsetse fly close to the <strong>Delta</strong> has, in the past, restricted the development of
the livestock.
In the period 93/94, poverty rates in rural Ngamiland were about 17 %, (Ellis 2000). In
1995, there was an outbreak of cattle lung disease. This disease eroded the economic base
of most farmers in the ODRS and increased poverty rates from 17 % in the period 93/94 to
43 % in the period 2002/03 (CSO 2003).
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