HOORC Winter Course research presented

HOORC’s University of Botswana Winter Course wrapped up today with presentations by 15 undergraduate students who have spent the past eight weeks carrying out research about issues in the Okavango Delta region.

Tourism was a popular topic, with Vincent Mabikwa looking at the contribution of tourism to the growth of small-scale hospitality business in Maun, Pauline Setlhabi studying tourists’ willingness to pay for the conservation of lions in Moremi Game Reserve, Masa Selerio examining factors influencing tourism demand in Moremi, Rose Gabanthate studying the psychological benefits for tourists visiting a protected area, Jayson Chabota reviewing the role of print media in promoting awareness of tourism in the Delta, and Mahoko Tamajobe studying the impact of Internet marketing strategies on the Delta as a tourist destination.

Social and economic issues were addressed by Thomas Uaundjo-Mbura who looked at the role of churches in providing social welfare services in Maun, Boitumelo Vavani who studied factors affecting the learning environment of Junior Secondary School students in a rural and remote setting, Seeletso Moepeng who evaluated basket making in Etsha as a livelihood strategy and its role on poverty alleviation, Tuelo Bapedi who studied opportunities and challenges for benefits in CBNRM projects, Tefo Motlamme who reviewed the evolution of land use and livelihoods activities in the Lake Ngami Area from the 1940s until the present, and Monosi Mopako who took part in a preliminary archeological survey of Bodibeng south of Lake Ngami.

Students who ventured into the realms of ecology, chemistry and hydrology were Siphiwe Opperman who looked at the impact of deltamethrin spraying for Tsetse fly eradication on selected terrestrial invertebrates of the Kwando/Linyanti Region in 2006, Ntwala Kanyenvu who studied medicinal plants used by herbalists in Maun, and Malcolm Isaacs who analysed the effects of channel alteration on the local community caused by dredging of the Boro River.

This is the first year that the Winter Course has been offered for credit. All the student reports will be available in HOORC's Library.