KASANE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

WORKSHOP
REPORT
Introduction
The Chobe district is one of the areas highly frequented by tourists in Botswana
largely because of its diverse and unique Wildlife, there is an inherent need to
ensure that this national treasure is protected from environmental degradation
hence the need for us to have hosted the 6 th episode of the Bona Botswana
Workshops. The 6th edition of the workshops saw us heading out to one of
Botswanas leading tourism hubs in the form of Kasane in the Chobe district. As
usual, in preparation for the workshop, we sent in one of the organizers early to
arrange the necessary logistics before the event. Preparations for the workshop
were commenced weeks in advance with confirmations from various government
departments as well as non-governmental organization such as the Chobe District
Council Chairman, the BTO, Tribal Administration, Department of Tourism, Botswana
Qualifications Authority, Botswana Guides Association, Ministry of Youth, Sports &
Culture as well as members of the Kasane and Chobe community.
Through this report, we seek to evaluate the said workshop with the objective of
ensuring that we improve and learn from the experience gained there. While the
workshop managed to reach its set targets and objectives, the participants arrived
late essentially leading to the program having to start late. All of the entities
earmarked to make presentations on the day made it on time and managed to
present and interact with the delegates. The program managed to run smoothly
with the opening remarks being delivered by the Kgosi.
The audience was engaging and had a variety of questions for the various
stakeholders who presented effectively ensuring that we achieve the mandate of
informing the community and young people in particular through the workshops.
The workshop was hosted at Cresta in Kasane. Below is an analysis of the
evaluation of the workshop in Kasane.
Challenges

1. The cost factor was another challenge as we had to spend more (by sending
in a delegate earlier) to ensure that the proceedings were a success. The
participants trickled in slowly and did not observe the stipulated time,
something that led to the program being started later than the scheduled
time as we waited for the audience and some of the presenters to make their
way down to the venue. We could not reach the all the number of people we
had targeted and reached 32 out of the 40 targeted participants.
Achievements
Out of 10, the workshop has been rated as an 8 with the other 2 being reserved due
to the shortcomings listed above. In spite of the challenges alluded to above, we
managed to achieve what we had set before ourselves and even exceeded our
expectations as the discussions were lively and interactive, the Kasane community
was well represented with various demographics (youth, elders, women) being in
attendance. The following are the achievements of the Maun Workshop:
1. All the presenters that had confirmed participation at the event attended and
arrived on time for the event. The presentations given during the workshop
were thought provoking and managed to resonate with the ideals of the
community as well as the area specific theme we had selected for Kasane.
2. Members of the community were able to share their ideals and aspirations
with the presenters as well as to pose well thought out questions essentially
ensuring that the presenters have an idea of the mandate they were
presenting on
3. There were a total of 37 members of the audience that attended the
workshop, a figure that exceeded the attendance of most of the workshops
we have hosted in other locations or areas, the audience further represented
a wide array of sectors with representation coming in from the private sector,
Non-Governmental Organizations, parastatals as well as Government
departments who will all contribute towards spreading the mandate shared
with them at the workshop.
4. The closing remarks by the Honorable Council Chairman of the Chobe District
Council were indeed inspiring and focused on the need for the community to
take an active involvement in the conservation efforts being spearheaded by
Government as well as for the youth to take an active interest in uplifting
their livelihoods through the tourism sector given the fact that their district is
inundated wildlife, which has been a major attraction for tourists.
Way Forward
1. Moving forward we will stress to stakeholders the need to respect time and to
ensure that they arrive on time before the audience. This we hope will ensure
that the program runs as scheduled essentially avoiding a situation where
those who arrived early have to wait for long period before the
commencement of the program.

2. Having hosted six workshops and preparing for another in Shakawe as the 7 th,
participants once again underscored the need to increase the number of
workshops to cater for other locations that were not included in the original
13 locations of the workshop in order to effectively ensure that the benefits
reach out to other communities and young people in the country. They noted
that 13 locations in a country as big as Botswana were few and that the
stakeholders should consider increasing the number of locations.
3. Moving forward, invitations to stakeholders and other audience members will
be handled by both the Phiri Tourism team and Botswana Qualifications
Authority to maximize on the numbers and leave no room for
disappointments. The strategy paid dividends during the Kasane workshop as
BQA assisted us reaching out to a larger demographic of people such as
academic institutions and the media. The invitation list will be compiled and
shared with Botswana Qualifications Authority.
4. The audience for the coming workshops should be varied to include youth
groups, community leaders, government departments, entrepreneurs and
other interest groups.
ISSUES BROUGHT FORTH DURING THE WORKSHOP
Kasane as the tourism hub or capital of the country proved to be one of the most
interactive of all the locations we had been to, the audience was lively and asked
appropriate questions while the presenters were in their element. There were
various issues put up for discussion during the workshop that the presenters and
the audience brought forth. Below is a summary of the various issues that cropped
up during the workshop:
1. The Chobe Tribal Authority was the first to give the welcoming remarks; the
Kgosi welcomed the delegates to the Chobe district and to the village of
Kasane in particular. Kgosi pointed out that in todays global environment, the
management and sustainable utilization of natural resources is a major
challenge facing Governments and their national economies. In this regard,
countries all over the world, including Botswana, have placed a premium on
such resources and have implemented a number of measures to ensure
sustainable utilization. In he noted Botswana, wildlife is among these
resources, and its effective management has attracted international tourists,
thereby making tourism one of the major foreign exchange earners for the
country and an important socioeconomic growth sector. He pointed out the
need for young people to reflect on how they can benefit from the tourism
sector in a sustainable manner given the various opportunities availed to the
youth by the Government.
2. The Department of Tourism presentation brought forth the need to ensure
that tourism development should not be in conflict with efforts to conserve
the environment and as such, they as a department liaise with other
departments such as the Department of Environmental Affairs and Botswana

Tourism Organizations who work towards ensuring that developments do not

negatively affect the environment through instruments such as
Environmental Impact Assessments as well as licensing of operations
respectively. The various tourism licensing categories under the Department
were explored where it was noted that certain activities or licensing
categories were solely reserved for citizens such as Mokoro safaris and
Domestic Guest Houses popularly known as Bed & Breakfasts. This it was
noted was to ensure citizen economic empowerment. It was further brought
to the fore that Indigenous Knowledge Systems should be utilized by the
youth in particular to generate income, an example being that of cultural
tourism where the youth can share our culture with tourists in return have
under their ambits as well as the requirements needed to ensure that one
gets licensing for the tourism they would seek, various questions were
brought forth from the audience that delved into the need to ensure that
there were categories that were explicitly reserved for citizens. Questions
emanating from the audience revolved around the fees applicable for each
licensing category as well as whether there are any special rates or fees for
young people given the financial challenges they are facing. The audience
further noted that some of the requirements for licensing such as having an
operational office and a fleet of cars for tourists put a lot of burden on citizens
and thus should be reviewed, in answering the Department of Tourism noted
that they realize the challenges faced but highlighted that people can in
essence share office space to reduce the rental costs while they were
lobbying for those without cars to be able to utilize rental cars for purposes of
licensing. This it was noted was meant to reduce the burden on citizens.
3. The Botswana Tourism Organization gave a presentation on their mandate as
well as their various incubation programs, the presentation further delved
into how LEA can assist prospective entrepreneurs penetrate the market
through Business plan formulation as well as business advisory services.
Questions from the audience were amongst others whether LEA also catered
for people wishing to go into dry farming, the audience further asked whether
LEA had attained the land in Nxaraga and what the said land was going to be
utilized for since it has been lying idle for some time and the community was
not given access to it. There was further a question on how many people
benefit from LEA services and it was highlighted that their annual target
countrywide is 24 000 people.
4. The Botswana Qualifications Authority made a comprehensive presentation
on the training and accreditation standards as well as the requirements for
one to get their qualifications accredited inclusive of accreditation for trainers
in line with the said standards.
5. Questions emanating from the presentation were amongst others whether
BQA could assist in terms of Job hunting for people whose qualifications had
been accredited and it was noted that BQA served as a regulator and

accreditation body and that Job placement Agencies were the relevant
entities to assist in job hunting.
6. Another question emanating from the BQA presentation was on whether
those without qualifications but experience in guiding were being accredited
as well as the criteria being used to accredit the said. It was noted that the
said people fell under the category of Recognition of Prior Learning or
Recognition of Current Competencies. Another question resulting from the
presentation sought to establish the fees paid when one was looking to
accredit their qualifications, the question was addressed at length and the
audience managed to grasp the various payments for provisional registration
and full registration.
7. Another question that was raised bordered on whether BQA looks at whether
the institution is focused on practicals as opposed to theory. As comments
coming from the audience, it was highlighted that Botswana Qualifications
Authority needs to engage in extensive consultations to avoid any
misunderstandings as is currently the case with the new standards for guides,
BQA however maintained that consultations were indeed done and that more
consultations were being undertaken as evidenced by the workshop and prior
meetings to keep the community abreast with developments.
Conclusion
Kasane was welcoming; from entering the district right into the entry point of the
village we were greeted by elephants, impalas and other wildlife species that
showed us the importance of conservation and the need for its priority. The
proceedings of the workshop saw the audience attentive and inquisitive effectively
ensuring a highly interactive forum. A majority of the delegates as it is with other
places we have been were young people who were highly interested in
implementing what they had learned from the workshop. It was noted that such a
platform (the workshop) was key mainly due to the fact that it brought various
stakeholders who would have been otherwise difficult to access individually.
Preparations for Shakawe are well underway; the event will be hosted on the 3 rd of
July 2015 at the Shakawe Sub Land Board Chambers. Preparations for the workshop
will be shared between the Botswana Qualifications Authority and Phiri Tourism
Consortium to ensure the effective delivery of the mandate of the workshops.
We look forward to a successful workshop in Shakawe and can only learn from the
challenges faced in organizing the said workshops. We are grateful for the advice,
mentoring and support we have and continue to receive from the Department of
Environmental Affairs NEF team and the Botswana Qualifications Authority Bona
Botswana workshop teams, we further look forward to continued advice on how to
ensure the effectiveness of the impact of the workshops.

KASANE IN PICTURES

Kgosi Samoka - Welcome

remarks

Mr. Moilwa - BQA presentation

Mr. Ntana - BTO presentation

Mr. Baletetse - D.O.T

presentation

Chobe District Council

Chairman Mr. Kachana Closing remarks

Audience paying
attention

Audience paying
attention

Audience paying
attention