SDG 2; End Hunger Achieve Food Security

Rapid economic growth and increased agricultural productivity over the past two decades has seen the proportion of undernourished people drop by almost half.

Many developing countries that used to suffer from famine and hunger can now meet the nutritional needs of the most vulnerable. Central and East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean have all made huge progress in eradicating extreme hunger.

These are all significant achievements in reaching the targets set out by the first Millennium Development Goals. Unfortunately, extreme hunger and malnutrition remain a huge barrier to development in many countries. 795 million people are estimated to be chronically undernourished as of 2014, often as a direct consequence of environmental degradation, drought and loss of biodiversity. Over 90 million children under the age of five are dangerously underweight. And one person in every four still goes hungry in Africa.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030, making sure all people – especially children and the more vulnerable – have access to sufficient and nutritious food all year round. This involves promoting sustainable agricultural practices: improving the livelihoods and capacities of small scale famers, allowing equal access to land, technology and markets. It also requires international cooperation to ensure investment in infrastructure and technology to improve agricultural productivity.

Together with the other goals set out here, we can end hunger by 2030.

Facts and Figures

Hunger

• Globally, one in nine people in the world today (795 million) are undernourished

• The vast majority of the world’s hungry people live in developing countries, where 12.9 per cent of the population is undernourished.

• Asia is the continent with the most hungry people – two thirds of the total. The percentage in southern Asia has fallen in recent years but in western Asia it has increased slightly.

• Southern Asia faces the greatest hunger burden, with about 281 million undernourished people. In sub-Saharan Africa, projections for the 2014-2016 period indicate a rate of undernourishment of almost 23 per cent.

• Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45 per cent) of deaths in children under five – 3.1 million children each year.

• One in four of the world’s children suffer stunted growth. In developing countries the proportion can rise to one in three.

• 66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone.

Food security

• Agriculture is the single largest employer in the world, providing livelihoods for 40 per cent of today’s global population. It is the largest source of income and jobs for poor rural households.

• 500 million small farms worldwide, most still rainfed, provide up to 80 per cent of food consumed in a large part of the developing world. Investing in smallholder women and men is an important way to increase food security and nutrition for the poorest, as well as food production for local and global markets.

• Since the 1900s, some 75 per cent of crop diversity has been lost from farmers’ fields. Better use of agricultural biodiversity can contribute to more nutritious diets, enhanced livelihoods for farming communities and more resilient and sustainable farming systems.
• If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million.

• 1.4 billion people have no access to electricity worldwide – most of whom live in rural areas of the developing world. Energy poverty in many regions is a fundamental barrier to reducing hunger and ensuring that the world can produce enough food to meet future demand.

Goal 2 Targets

• By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round

• By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons

• By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment

• By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality
• By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed

• Increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular least developed countries

• Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets, including through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha Development Round

• Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit extreme food price volatility

SDG 1:End Poverty in ALL its Forms EVERYWHERE

Extreme poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 1990. While this is a remarkable achievement, one in five people in developing regions still live on less than $1.25 a day, and there are millions more who make little more than this daily amount, plus many people risk slipping back into poverty.

Poverty is more than the lack of income and resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. Economic growth must be inclusive to provide sustainable jobs and promote equality.

Facts and Figures

• 836 million people still live in extreme poverty

• About one in five persons in developing regions lives on less than $1.25 per day

• The overwhelming majority of people living on less than $1.25 a day belong to two regions: Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa

• High poverty rates are often found in small, fragile and conflict-affected countries

• One in seven children under age five in the world has inadequate height for his or her age

• Every day in 2014, 42,000 people had to abandon their homes to seek protection due to conflict

Goal 1 Targets

• By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day 1.2

• By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions

• Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable

• By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of 13 property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance

• By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters

• Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions

• Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions.

Source: http://www.un.org

Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a proposed set of targets relating to future international development. They are to replace the Millennium Development Goals once those expire at the end of 2015. The SDGs were first formally discussed at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012. On 19 July 2014, the UN General Assembly's Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG) forwarded a proposal for the SDGs to the Assembly. The proposal contained 17 goals with 169 targets covering a broad range of sustainable development issues.  On 4 December 2014, the UN General Assembly accepted the Secretary-General's Synthesis Report which stated that the agenda for the post-2015 SDG process would be based on the OWG proposals.

The Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Post 2015 Development Agenda (IGN) began in January 2015 and ended in August 2015. Following the negotiations, a final document was prepared for adoption in the UN Sustainable Development Summit September 25th-27th, 2015 in New York, USA.

On 2nd of Aug 2015, 193 countries arrived at a consensus on the following seventeen proposed goals:

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

In the coming weeks, Finance First Botswana will be taking a journey with you to discuss each goal in detail. Happy reading :) 

Press Release:Bank of Botswana Reduces Bank Rate

BANK OF BOTSWANA 
Press Release
Monetary Policy Committee Meets August 6, 2015 

 Introduction
The meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee held on August 6, 2015 concluded that the medium-term outlook for price stability remains positive, with the forecast inflation remaining within the 3 – 6 percent medium-term objective range.

Economic Outlook and Assessment of Risks
Global output is projected to grow by 3.3 percent in 2015 compared to the estimated 3.4 percent in 2014 and the forecast of 3.8 percent for 2016. However, growth performance differs across regions, with geopolitical risks and challenges relating to economic restructuring in both developed and emerging market economies constraining medium-term prospects. For Botswana, GDP growth is estimated at 4.6 percent in the twelve months to March 2015 compared to 7.9 percent in the corresponding period in 2014. This reflects the 2.5 percent and 5 percent expansion in mining and non-mining output, respectively. Inflation increased from 3 percent in May to 3.1 percent in June 2015, mainly due to an increase in housing rentals. Low domestic demand pressures and subdued foreign price developments contribute to the positive inflation outlook in the medium term. However, this is subject to downside risks arising from the sluggish global economic activity and associated weakness in commodity prices. The inflation outlook could be adversely affected by any unanticipated large increase in administered prices and government levies, as well as international oil and food prices beyond current forecast.

Monetary Policy Stance The current state of the economy as well as the domestic and external economic outlook, including the inflation forecast, suggest that easing monetary policy is a step in the right direction; it would be consistent with maintaining inflation within the Bank’s medium-term objective range of 3 – 6 percent.
Accordingly, the Monetary Policy Committee decided to reduce the Bank Rate by half a percent to 6 percent. Consequently, all commercial banks are required to make the necessary interest rate adjustment immediately to reflect this policy decision.

Source: http://www.bankofbotswana.bw/

Ways To Stretch Your Pula

The last  two weeks of the month are often the hardest wallet-wise because of the not so wise spending decisions we make after receiving our paychecks. But this shouldn't be the case friends, we have to make sound financial decisions. I hope you find the following tips helpful;

1. Carry small amounts of cash: in this way you are limiting your spending. Often times we get carried away with our spending, ladies more especially. When you find a sale at a store you wouldn't want to miss it for anything. But that's a really bad habit. Exercise  a bit  of discipline no matter how  bad you  want to buy that item. Carrying  small cash can deliver you from the temptation of wanting to biy if you really can't control  yourself.

2. Eliminate or control your use of credit cards: if possible reserve your credit  card usage for rainy days or for  transactions that strictly require credit  card as a mode of payment.

3. Buy only what you NEED versus  what you WANT: you should be able to tell the difference between the two. Wants change every minute, honestly you just can't keep up otherwise  you will end up buying  everything  in the store.

4. Use a grocery  shopping  list and stick to it: don't even be shy about it, those that you are trying to impress will not be with you when you are thebeless. Take  your written savings goals  as a reminder when you go shopping.

5. Cook meals at home  and pack lunch to work instead of eating out everyday: it doesn't make you less cool but rather  puts you in control of your money. Imagine  the P25 or so  that  you can save everyday, in just one week you could save P125 and in one month P500.

If you are tired of being broke my friend then it's high time you create  that financial action plan. Put into practice  the tips shared as well as more tips that you come across daily.

Botswana Boasts Sound Banking Sector

Press release

The banking sector, through which most payments take place, is stable and profitable, President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama has said.
President Khama said this during the launch of new family of Botswana coin held in Gaborone on February 27 stating that more banks had recently established a presence in the country.
He said all the positive developments were testimony to the confidence the public and international community had in the national currency, and to the widely attested record of prudent economic management, for which the country was rightly recognised.
The government, he said, had continued to uphold the principles of prudent economic management because it was vital to do so in the interests of long-term sustainable economic growth. "We have continued a programme of fiscal consolidation, despite the challenges arising from upheavals in the global economy," he said.
He said it was of critical importance to avoid a possible accumulation of unsustainable public debt that could, if left unchecked, undermine the stability of the currency and the economy generally.
President Khama quoted the Minister of Finance and Planning's budget speech which stated that, "it is important that the country returns to budgetary surpluses which stand us in good stead in times of economic downturn."
Bank of Botswana, he said, had supported economic growth principally by ensuring that the rate of price increases benign, in line with its mandate of fighting inflation. Inflation had to a large extent been kept at low and sustainable levels in response to monetary policy, which has been adjusted from time to time, as necessary.
The bank rate, he said, had been reduced by two percentage points since April 2013, such that market interest rates were supportive of domestic activity, as well as the government's objectives of economic diversification and job creation.
President Khama stated that the objectives were further supported by the exchange rate policy, the parameters of which were recently made public by the Minister of Finance and Development Planning with a view to anchor public expectations of the Pula exchange rate.

BARCLAYS BANK OF BOTSWANA PART 1

We are starting a discussion on the financial institutions in Botswana. You need to be strategic when opening a bank account. Know the products offered by your bank and compare them with products offered  by other banks.

Let us start our discussion with the Barclays Bank of Botswana

Barclays Bank is Botswana's leading commercial bank that employs 1,247 people and have 43 branches and 115 ATMs throughout the country. It has been voted the Best Bank in Botswana for more than 3 years in a row by Euromoney and EMEA Finance.

Barclays makes a positive impact in communities and individuals. They believe that, as one of Botswana's oldest corporate citizens, they have a responsibility towards improving the quality of life of citizens.They take pride in the Barclays F. G Mogae scholarship fund, which is just one of the ways they touch the lives of the people around them.

History

Barclays opened its doors in Botswana in 1950 with the first branch in Lobatse. They expanded their network until 1975 when they became an incorporated company in Botswana. They are now publicly listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange.

First Barclays Bank buildings in Lobatse

 Products

Barclays offers various products specially customised for individual needs of its customers. Products range from motshelo account, kgomotso funeral plan, lekgolo saving account, hello money among others.

Barclays Motshelo Account

 

Many people belong to groups that save money to achieve a common goal. These groups save for all sorts of things:

• Burial societies
• Family events
• Christmas groceries
• Holidays
• Sunday soccer teams
• Birthday celebrations
• Even bigger projects and major purchases

If you belong to a savings group, the Barclays Motshelo Account is an ideal place to put your group’s money.

Here’s what the Barclays Motshelo Account gives you:

• It’s safe and secure
• You’ll get free funeral cover of P2,000 each for 10 nominated members
• There’s a free cheque book
• They send free SMS alert notifications so that you can track account activity
• They give an attractive interest rate for a better return on your savings
• Then interest is paid into the account monthly
• You can make free cash and cheque deposits
• Your members can put their money in by free standing orders
• You’ll need to put in an opening amount of P500

To open a Barclays Motshelo Account, you need to have at least three people in your group. Your two signatories should go to their local branch and take along:

• The opening balance of P500
• Their national ID Card or passport
• Address verification documents for signatories ( water/electricity/ phone bill)

Your group does not have to have a formal constitution.

Contact your nearest branch to find out how the Motshelo Account can help you.