WHO must re-invent itself as a health knowledge hub

In this article, the author, Barry Bloom argues that WHO must regain the trust of donors and the scientific community by becoming more transparent and transforming itself into the main source of global health knowledge. Bloom argues that the agency must focus on what it does well, such as "provide forums for experts, scientists and health officials worldwide to interact and agree on best practices". And it must make the results of these exchanges available online. In this new leading role the WHO could also influence research and innovation priorities to ensure that they address developing countries' concerns, he says. And it must strengthen its advisory role, securing funding for experts to evaluate future needs such as antibiotic resistance. Link to full article.

Professor Moses Chimbari appointed to ESPA Advisory Committee

The Deputy Director, Research Services, of the Okavango Research Institute, Professor Moses Chimbari has been appointed Africa's representative to the prestigious Ecosystems Services for Poverty Alleviation Programme (ESPA) Advisory Committee (I-PAC). The Programme aims to deliver high quality cutting edge research that will improve understanding on the way ecosystems function, the services they provide and their relationships with political economy and sustainable growth. Professor Chimbari brings to the fore a wealth of experience in research management having worked in various institutions in Southern Africa. His areas of interest are extensive :ranging from public health aspects on diseases like malaria and HIV to fisheries and limnology. Congratulations Professor Chimbari!

SADC Regional Water Infrastructure Programme

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has recently published a new brochure describing its programme to encourage investment in water infrastructure in the southern African region.The SADC Water Infrastructure Programme covers water supply and sanitation, community livelihoods and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) demonstration work as well as the Regional Strategic Water Infrastructure Development Programme's work in project preparation, resource mobilisation and capacity building. Key targets of the programme include developing, by 2015, the water infrastructure needed to double land under irrigation, and to halve the number of people without access to drinking water and good sanitation. Useful annexes provide lists of water related organizations and strategic water infrastructure projects in the region.

You can find the full text of the brochure on the SADC Water Sector International Cooperating Partners Collaboration Portal.

Government notices of interest to the Okavango Community

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVIII, no. 38, 23 July 2010

Republic of Botswana : Department of Road transport and safety: Tender: Supply, installation and configuration of network (LAN) at Maun, Francistown, Tutume, Bobonong and Selebi-Phikwe: Tender No. MTC 240/2/1B/2010-2011 2929

Republic of Botswana : Department of Survey and Mapping-Ministry of Lands and Housing: Tender: Digital colour aerial photography for 100 settlements and digital line mapping for 35 settlements: Tender No. MTC/MLH/DSM/AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY/757/28062010 2938

Republic of Botswana : Roads Department: Tender: Resealing and road marking works of Pandamatenga-Kazungula Road Section (60km) Tender No. PR9/5/3/10 (XX) 2964

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVIII, no. 40, no. 40, 6th August 2010

Application for water rights:
T.Mooketsi, river draw off – Shashe river at Matenge (North West District): 40m3 per day for irrigation use ;M.Modiri, river draw off –Boteti River at Mmumosweu (North West District): 80 m3 per day for irrigation use: V.C. Diwanga: river draw off –Okavango River at Samochima (North West District): 80 m3 per day for irrigation use; D.Kgosintwa river draw off – Thamalakane river at Tsanakona (North West District): 60m3 per day for irrigation use: Moselewapula Syndicate-Borehole No. Z7580 at Chete (NWD), 18.2 m2 per day for irrigation use; M. M Ledimo Borehole No. Z12730 at Gunotsoga (North West District), 18.2 m2 per day for irrigation use: M. M Ledimo Borehole No. Z12721 at Malatso (North West District), 18.2 m2 per day for irrigation use:

Republic of Botswana : department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care: Tender: Development of a comprehensive youth HIV/AIDS behaviour change interventions and empowerment strategy Tender No. MTC/MOH/HAPC/SER/5028/22072010 3056-3060

Republic of Botswana :: Tender: Fencing of Trans-Kalahari highway road reserve (Section A) Tender No. MTC 240/5/22A/2010-2011 3121

Republic of Botswana :: Tender: Fencing of Trans-Kalahari highway road reserve (Section B) Tender No. MTC 240/5/22A/2010-2011 3127

Tender announcements and documents may also be found on the Government of Botswana web site. The entire issue of the Government Gazette may be read in HOORC’s Library.

No Time To Quit: HIV/AIDS Treatment Gap Widening In Africa

Since the start of the epidemic, HIV/AIDS has created an acute public health crisis in many countries requiring an emergency response to the resulting high mortality and the spread of the disease. To date, much has been done to tackle HIV, but the urgency of the situation still calls for a sustained and expanded response over a long period oftime — the battle is not over yet. For more visit the MSF site.

Sanitation and the MDGs: Making the Politics Work

According to the Millennium Development Goals, the world is not on track to reach the sanitation target to halve the population of people without proper sanitation by the year 2015. Sanitation and Hygiene (S&H) policies, backed by sound epidemiological evidence, and supported by solid socio-economic arguments for increased investment, are still being overlooked by many governments. Technical solutions exist, as well as broad agreement that they should be used to support demand. Recent research suggests that the problem lies in failures in sanitation policy-making. An example from Ethiopia shows what can be achieved when a sound sanitation strategy is backed by strong political positioning and good communication. For more on this you can visit: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/2030.pdf

2009 Winter Course Work

Seventeen University of Botswana undergraduate students completed their work for HOORC's Winter Course this week, wrapping up six weeks of research training and fieldwork assignments with presentations of the results of their research.

This year's work showed an increased focus on environmental health with An assessment of the level of knowledge on malaria among Maun residents by Keletso Benjamin, The use of traditional knowledge to prevent livestock diseases in Toteng village, Ngamiland District by Moabiemang Gabalebatse, A case study on perceptions of Matlapana residents on the 2008 alcohol levy by Tsaone Goikantswemang, Assessing the potability of water at Xhobe watering point by Z. Kemmonye, Effluent quality assessment from Letsholathebe Hospital treatment plant by Mothusi Dikole and Impact of wetland vegetation on water quality by Aobakwe Kathleen Lubinda.

Tourism studies included The contribution of culture to sustainable tourism at Khwai Village in the Okavango Delta, Botswana by Gorata Maokanyane, Investigating the state of convention tourism in Maun : case of hotels and lodges by Phemelo Oabona and Impacts of accommodation facilities on the livelihoods of local people : case of Khwai River Lodge and Khwai Village by Dimpho Malebogo Matlhola.

Studies of the ecology of vegetation and soil in the Okavango included A comparative assessment of soil fertility on arable farming practices in Shorobe village by Onalenna Petros, The influence of ungulates grazing on nutrient status of the soil and vegetation around University of Botswana Maun Campus, Sexaxa by Chawata Moitlhobogi and A LANDSAT TM data based monitoring of pre-fire and post-fire vegetation recovery and dynamics at Xakao, Okavango Delta (2000-2004) by Kaone Rakhudu.

Economic studies included The impact of flood inflow of the Boteti River on livelihoods activities in Xhobe settlement by Tshimologo Andrias, Social dynamics of participating in labour intensive public works (LIPWP) program in Maun by Kesaobaka Molebatsi and Water demand in a rural set up: the case of Boro Village by Itumeleng P. Oageng.

Senatla Gobopaone made a case study in Sankuyo of The role of taboos and totems in conservation of animals and vegetation while Baitshepi Mashabe produced an Assessment of livestock predation by carnivores and households adaptation in Shorobe. Natural resources governance was addressed by Dominic Tshiamiso in his study, Assessment of Tubu community's perceptions towards joint management system of natural resources management.

You can find the students' reports in HOORC's Library.

Traditional healers workshop followup

A followup to the workshop for traditional healers, Sharing Our Knowledge -- Using our Natural Resources for the Management of HIV/AIDS, held in Maun on 23 September 2008, will be held in Maun next Thursday, 23 April 2009. The meeting will allow the University of Botswana's Office of Research and Development and CESRIKI to report back some results on testing of medicinal plants provided by the healers for various bioactivities, to receive feed-back from healers about plant testing, to discuss some issues raised in interviews and to suggest further steps on collaboration. For more details, contact Dr Barbara Ngwenya, HOORC at 681-7226.

Recent research from HOORC

Water resources management model for Okavango River Basin from Kiker, Munoz-Carpena, Wolski, Cathey, Gaughan and Kim article


Published results of research by HOORC staff and associates recently added to the HOORC Library catalogue cover a wide range of topics relevant to management of the Okavango.


A study reported in The effects of soil cover on soil respiration and microbial population in the mopane (colophospermum mopane) woodland of North Western Botswana by Mabiletswane P. Siele, Tabo Mubyana-John and HOORC ecologist Casper Bonyongo in Dynamic Soil, Dynamic Plant found that fungi contribute significantly to soil structure and respiration under mopane tree canopy.

HOORC Deputy Director Moses Chimbari and C.J. Shiff's investigation of the potential use of the fruit of Jatropha curcas to kill snails that transmit schistosomiasis, A laboratory assessment of the potential molluscicidal potency of Jatropha curcas aqueous extracts, was published in the African journal of aquatic science.

Incorporating uncertainty into adaptive, transboundary water challenges : a conceptual design for the Okavango River basin by Gregory A. Kiker, HOORC researcher Piotr Wolski and associates, published in the International journal of risk assessment and management, explores models for management of transboundary water issues in the Okavango River Basin.

HOORC researchers Philippa Huntsman-Mapila and Susan Ringrose joined associates Tiercelin, Benoit, Diskin, Cotten and Hemond in investigating the origins of the formation of the Okavango's alluvial fan, reported in the African journal of earth sciences, Sediment geochemistry and tectonic setting: application of discrimination diagrams to early stages of intracontinental rift evolution, with examples from the Okavango and Southern Tanganyika rift basins.

HOORC researchers Susan Ringrose, Philippa Huntsman-Mapila and Cornelis Vanderpost also contributed to a study of changes in sediments that sheds light on palaeo-environmental change in the Okavango, reported in Diagenesis in Okavango fan and adjacent dune deposits with implications for the reccord of palaeo-environmental change in Makgadikgadi - Okavango - Zambezi basin, northern Botswana in the journal Geomorphology.

HOORC associate Michael Heinl collaborated with Mike Murray-Hudson, Jan Sliva and Budzanani Tacheba to find that fire plays a secondary role to flooding in affecting vegetation structure and tree density in the Okavango floodplain, reported as The relevance of fire frequency for the floodplain vegetation of the Okavango Delta, Botswana in the African journal of ecology.

HOORC researchers Ketlhatlogile and Belda Mosepele worked with associates Peter Moyle, Glenn Merron and David Purkey to write Fish, floods, and ecosystem engineers : aquatic conservation in the Okavango Delta, Botswana in Bioscience, an argument for fisheries as a key issue when analysing environmental flows in the Delta.

Communicating integrated water resources management : from global discourse to local practice -- chronicling an experience from the Boteti River sub-Basin, Botswana by Larry Swatuk and HOORC researcher Moseki Motsholapheko, published in Physics and chemistry of the earth, reviews the challenges of influencing opinion and beliefs in the context of integrated water resources management.

The same issue of Physics and chemistry of the earth, edited by HOORC researcher Dominic Mazvimavi, featured an article by Mazvimavi and HOORC environmental chemist Wellington Masamba, Impact on water quality of land uses along Thamalakane - Boteti river : an outlet of the Okavango Delta, calling for increased monitoring of fluctuations in water quality of the rivers flowing from the Delta.

You can find all these resources in HOORC's Library.

Government notices of interest to the Okavango community

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 82, 19 December 2008

Republic of Botswana National AIDS Coordinating Agency: Request for Expressions of Interest (Consultant Services)
6293
North West District Council: Tender: Construction of School Facilities at Nokaneng, Tubu, Kelekele, Gumare, Habu, Xai Xai, and Qangwa primary schools
6337

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 84, 24 December 2008

Civil Aviation Authority (Amendment) Act, 2008
A.87
Diseases of Animals (Amendment) Act, 2008
A.97

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 85, 31 December 2008

Government Notice No. 711 of 2008: Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act (Cap. 42:08): Appointment of members of the Ngamiland District Administration Tender Committee
6474
Republic of Botswana Ministry of Local Government: Tender: Extension of consultancy services for HIV/AIDS mainstreaming on development projects (second publication)
6482
Republic of Botswana: Tender: Consultancy to develop management plan for Mosema Community Conservation Trust in partnership with Department of Forestry and Range Resources
6518
Ngamiland District Council: Integrated schedule of meetings, 2009
6547

Tender announcements and documents may also be found on the Government of Botswana web site. The entire issue of the Government Gazette may be read in HOORC’s Library.

Government notices of interest to the Okavango community

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 76, 21 November 2008

Republic of Botswana: Tender: Consultancy services for development of the oil industry margin model
5925
Republic of Botswana Dept. of Meteorological Services: Tender: Supply, installation and commissioning of five automatic weather stations
5961
Republic of Botswana Dept. of Forestry and Range Resources: Tender: supply and installation of fire towers
5962
Republic of Botswana: Tender: Supply of fire warning sign boards for Department of Forestry and Range Resources
5962
North West District Council: Tender: Kaure Ostrich Farm development
5976
North West District Council: Tender: Construction of ARV satellite clinic in Shakawe
5976

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 77, 28 November 2008

Statutory Instrument No. 99 of 2008: of Diseases of Animals Act: Declaration of foot and mouth disease (infected area) order, 2008
C.660

Tender announcements and documents may also be found on the Government of Botswana web site. The entire issue of the Government Gazette may be read in HOORC’s Library.

Tsetse fly spraying in the Okavango

Spraying for tsetse fly control in the Okavango Delta, 1970s

From the Peter Smith Collection, University of Botswana HOORC Library Archives, Ref. SMITH/4/1/14

History of tsetse fly control in the Okavango Delta

Recently received in HOORC's Library, University of Botswana historian Dr Maitseo Bolaane's Tsetse and trypanosomosis control in the Okavango Delta, c. 1930s - 1970s looks at the relationship among tsetse fly control, the cattle industry and game policy in northern Botswana over five decades. The "bumpy road of trial and error" to control the pest described in the paper included destruction of game, selective bush clearing, and spraying of insecticides. The paper notes that, while there seems to have been little attempt to incorporate indigenous knowledge about tsetse fly on the part of colonial administrators, in Botswana Africans made sustained efforts to observe the fly environment and to experiment with its control. The paper was published in the South African Historical Journal in 2007: you can find it in HOORC's Library.

Government notices of interest to the Okavango community

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 62, 3 October 2008

Road Transport Permits Act, Road Transport (Permits) Regulations: application for road transport permits “P” permits: Puru Safaris, Kasane Fish Farm, Kalrose Tours
4979
Republic of Botswana: Tender: Ministry of Local Government: Consultancy services for HIV/AIDS mainstreaming into development projects
4989
Supplement B: Bill No. 26 of 2008: Diseases of animals (Amendment) Bill, 2008
B.205-B.206



From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 63, 10 October 2008

Government notice no. 483 of 2008: Trade Disputes Act: National Industrial Relations Code of Good Practice
5056-5175

Tender announcements and documents may also be found on the Government of Botswana web site. The entire issue of the Government Gazette may be read in HOORC’s Library.

Natural resources for HIV/AIDS

Workshop participants

HOORC livelihoods specialist Dr Barbara Ngwenya, Dr M. Leteane, a virologist, of the University of Botswana's Dept. of Biological Sciences and Dr K. Marobela, a cell biologist working with the Centre for Scientific Research, Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation (CESRIKI) at UB, ran a workshop for traditional healers, Sharing Our Knowledge -- Using our Natural Resources for the Management of HIV/AIDS in Maun on 23 September 2008. Approximately 60 traditional health practitioners, including herbalists and community health extension workers from Ngamiland District, shared their knowledge of local plants and learned how biologists evaluate the efficacy of natural medicines through testing of samples brought by the participants. Sixty-five samples of plants used by the traditional healers were collected for further testing: results will be shared with participants at another workshop to be held in early 2009. The workshops are sponsored by the University of Botswana's Office of Research and Development and CESRIKI.
Samples of herbal products brought to the workshop

2008 HOORC Winter Course work

Nineteen University of Botswana undergraduate students completed their work for HOORC's Winter Course this week, wrapping up their fieldwork assignments with presentations of the results of their research. This year's work included economics studies from Mbakile P. Seabe - Household attitudes and willingness to pay for the conservation of Lake Ngami, Botswana -- Kaelo Galeage - The impact of Foot and Mouth Disease on livelihoods in Habu -- Bonang Keagakwa -- Firewood trade as a livelihood activity in the greater Maun area, and Charlotte Masiangwako -- Benefits and challenges facing community participation in CBNRM.

Environmental science students Kelebogile Cole, Mokganedi Tatlhego, Kesego Mogotsi, Sandra Middleton and Ndobane Lokae looked at Temporal patterns in feeding ecology of several floodplain fish, the effectiveness and contribution to conservation of veterinary fences, Assessment of CBNRM projects as a poverty alleviation: the case of Kwai village, Soil factors influencing the abundance and distribution of threatened and endangered species with particular emphasis on Enlophia angolensis, and Change in flood regimes in the two distributaries (Thaoge-Karangana and Xudum-Xene), Western Okavango Delta, since 1989.

Biology majors Nonofo Ntsima, Tsharagano Folai, Melitah Motlhale and Ipeleng Randome worked on Using time series data to assess the Tilapia fishery of the Okavango Delta, Effects of Cytobagous Salvinae on nitrogen content of Salvinia molesta Botswana, An assessment of factors influencing the abundance and distribution of Loeschea leuntzia ( mokodi) in disturbed areas of the Okavango Delta, and Environmental factors influencing the abundance and distribution of wetland plants in the Okavango Delta: the case of Tswii (Nymphaea nonchali).

Chemistry students Kagiso Phaladi, Collen Saudu and Shedreck Motsholabatho studied The influence of sediments on water quality in the Lake Ngami Basin, Total and bioavailable arsenic, chromium and cobalt in the sediments of the Okavango and Determination of potential environmental impacts of sewage effluents in Maun.

History major Michael Lopang worked on Highlighting of the importance of historical literature in the development of Botswana tourism package: Livingstone's travels in Ngamiland, while sociology student Lollies Sakuze looked at Cultural tourism as a form of livelihood diversification: the case of Gcwihaba caves.

And pre-med student Mmoloki Rodney Maswabi made A retrospective analysis of clinical data to determine the magnitude and distribution of malaria in Maun.

All the students' reports can be found in HOORC's Library.

New in HOORC's Library: Khwe medicinal plants

The Khwe of the Okavango Panhandle : the use of veld plants for food and medicine, is the third in a series of booklets of San peoples' oral testimonies produced by the Kuru Family of Organizations. The booklet, compiled by the Letloa Trust, provides full page descriptions and colour photographs of plants found around the Okavango River, and their uses by the Khwe people. You can order the book from Kuru, and find it in HOORC's Library.

HIV AIDS support in the Okavango Delta

The IRIN news web site of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has a current story about HIV AIDS programmes offered by tourism operators in the Okavango Delta, as well as one about the Maun Homeopathy Project, a group of volunteer homeopathic practitioners working with Botswana's health services to treat HIV positive people in Ngamiland. In HOORC's Library, you can find the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis' Macro-economic impacts of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Botswana and The impact of HIV/AIDS in CBNRM in Botswana : the case of Ngamiland by HOORC researchers B.N. Ngwenya, O.T. Thakadu and associate F.C. Potts.

Okavango lions in genetic study

Photo courtesy of Lani Asato, Aquarap 2000



A recently published study, Genomic organization, sequence divergence, and recombination of feline immunodeficiency virus from lions in the wild in the online open access journal BMC Genomics shows that parts of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) isolated from wild lions have undergone substantial genetic recombination, says research published. The National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Research in the USA and colleagues from the USA and Botswana including Christiaan and Hanlie Winterbach, have sequenced the genomes of two lion FIV subtypes in full: FIVPle subtype B, isolated from lions in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, and FIVPle subtype E, isolated from lions in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The sequencing of the two full FIV genomes of different lion subtypes shows the importance of whole-genome analysis in understanding complex genetic events. These findings will be relevant to big cat conservation and developing more effective animal models for HIV.

BOPA's diary of the year that was 2007

The end of the first month of 2008 leads us to look at the Botswana Government's Press Agency (BOPA) review of news highlights of 2007. A selection of items relevant to Okavango region planning:

February - The African Union adopts Botswana's position on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
March - Some 111 former residents of the Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve return to the reserve following a High Court ruling that their relocation was unconstitutional.
May - The Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations refutes allegations of its association with opposition parties and Survival International (SI), a London-based organisation, which was against the relocation of Basarwa from the Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve.
May - US Ambassador, Mrs Catherine Canavan, promises to help market Community Based Organisation (CBOs), engaged in tourism, through the regional, commercial Competitiveness Hub.
September - Government declines South African Air link bid to buy Air Botswana. Minister of Works and Transport, Ms Lesego Motsumi, says cabinet declined the proposals because it did not meet Botswanas air transport requirements and did not support governments wider objectives for the development of the transport and tourism sectors.
October - A suspected outbreak of foot and mouth disease is reported in the Habu Extension area near Nokaneng in Ngamiland District (Zone 2).
December - President Festus Mogae launches the Botswana Brand at the Gaborone International Convention Centre. BOPA