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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 policymakers to quantify the challenge and to 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, African Food Security Urban Network (AFSUN)’s local partner, the University of Botswana, 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 Southern African Development Community (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.

The objective of the study: The main objective of this study is to determine the factors that influence manufacturing small, medium and micro-sized enterprises’ (SMMEs) borrowing from banks. Problem statement: This article examines factors that affect SMMEs’ ability to borrow money from commercial banks. Empirical evidence was collected from manufacturing SMMEs. Motivation for the study: There is a scarcity of studies on factors influencing borrowing among Botswana manufacturing SMMEs. Methodology: The study employed both qualitative and quantitative research designs. The random stratified sampling technique was used to draw a sample of 100 manufacturing SMMEs from a population of 329 registered manufacturing SMMEs in Botswana. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Furthermore, multivariate logistic regression estimation was used to obtain the main objective. Main findings: The empirical results showed that longevity in position and annual turnover have positive impact on getting access to bank loans, while marital status has a negative effect on access to bank loans. Practical implications: An understanding of factors influencing borrowing can increase chances of an SMME gaining financing from commercial banks, thus solving the challenge of access to finance. Contributions: The results are significant to SMMEs, policymakers, the banking sector and other researchers. Furthermore, this study increases literature on SMME challenges and financing logistics.

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.

There is acute scarcity of detailed studies of the manufacturing sector in Botswana, especially the financing aspect, hence the need for the study. The study aims at exploring the financing challenges faced by manufacturing small, micro- and medium enterprises (SMMEs). It makes use of 100 questionnaires relevant to manufacturing SMMEs, and structured interviews were conducted with three commercial banks over a period of 8 months. Results show that SMMEs use more of internal financing than external financing because they cannot easily access external financing due to a lack of collateral security, high default rate, poor creditrating, poor banking history, lack of honest reporting and lack of up-to-date records. It is recommended that commercial banks should offer financing on a case-by-case basis, consider financing SMMEs that have feasible ideas even when they have no collateral security and mentor and guide SMMEs rather than just financing them. SMMEs should keep up-to-date records. SMMEs need to save money for business’ future. SMMEs should keep clean banking track record and operate with integrity. SMMEs should separate personal transactions from business transactions to avoid misappropriation of funds. They should also seek help from Local Enterprise Authority, bank officials or competent consultants to ensure they have feasible business plans rather than carry unrealistic dreams. Furthermore, SMMEs need to benchmark with companies in other countries. Commercial banks should develop financing packages that suit firms according to their growth stage. They should consider applications individually. Government should develop policies and incentives to lure financial institutions to finance SMMEs.

This article critically examines various dimensions of poverty reduction in Botswana relative to SADC members. It has been argued that macro-economic, fi nancial and political stability; peace and security; accountable democratic governance and judicious use of mining resources have contributed positively to Botswana’s spectacular growth and poverty reduction. The fi ndings also indicate that despite the shortcoming in the income distribution trends, the overall absolute poverty measured by HDI is above the average SADC index; as well as other measures such as head-count ratios, education ratios and GDP per capita. The article later provides lessons for SADC, especially members lagging behind in the examined aspects.

The objective of this discussion is to critically examine the performance of the industrial and trade sectors in the context of the East African Community (EAC). It has been shown that the industrial performance has some direct impact on trade and that Tanzania’s trade shares to EAC are still low. Furthermore, despite the recent impressive performance of the industrial sector, there are traditional and competitive challenges to the sector. The paper therefore concludes by providing policy recommendations.