USADF Signs Grant to Support Income Feneration Activities for Marginalized San Population in Botswana:

WASHINGTON - July 16, 2009 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 16, 2009 – The United States African Development Foundation continued their assistance to marginalized populations in Africa by signing a grant agreement to benefit a San community group in Botswana.  The grantee is BORAVAST Community Resource Management Trust, which is located in an isolated part of the Kalahari Desert.

After signing the grant, USADF President Lloyd Pierson stated, “USADF strives to identity and work with the most marginalized populations in Africa to ensure a better quality of life for them.  This grant is funding one of the most marginalized populations in Botswana and is designed to help the group’s members raise themselves out of poverty.”

BORAVAST is a community-based organization composed of 1,500 San residents living in four remote villages in the Southern Kgalagardi District.  Traditionally a marginalized population, the San suffer from high levels of unemployment, illiteracy, and poverty.  BORAVAST improves members’ quality of life by mobilizing the community to participate in income generating activities.

While many members of BORAVAST own their own small stock of sheep, individuals struggle to reach regional wool markets.  While BORAVAST wants to work with members to help them gain access to markets, it lacks the accounting, management, and market knowledge to do so.  The eighteen month grant will provide for improvements to financial systems, business and marketing training, animal husbandry supplies, and ewes and rams.

USADF began programming in Botswana in 1985. Botswana’s current portfolio stands at twenty-two investment projects totaling more than $3 million. For more information about the portfolio, please visit the country’s quick source page at http://www.adf.gov/-QuickSourceCountryPortfolioPage-Botswana.htm .

The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) is a United States Government agency dedicated to expanding access to economic opportunity in Africa. Currently USADF operates in 20 African nations.  Over the past 25 years, USADF has funded nearly 1,500 projects representing in excess of $150 million in support of African enterprises and local African communities.  For more information on USADF, its programs and application guidelines, visit www.usadf.gov.

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