the role of tourism in natural resource management in the okavango ...

During the current National Development Plan period of 2003/04 to 2008/09, growth
in employment is expected to average 5,6 percent per annum. The trade, hotel and
restaurants and manufacturing sectors are projected to record strong growth of
employment, as a result of their high labour intensity and projected high GDP growth
rates. The government sector is expected to move away from its role as one of the
major employers, with an estimated 2,4 percent growth of employment per annum,
bringing down its share in employment by 5,2 percent during this National
Development Plan period. This relatively weak growth of employment in the
government sector is expected to make way for higher employment growth rates in
the private sector. On the other hand, employment in the mining sector will decrease
by 0,1 percent as a result of the expected decline of output in the sector (Republic of
Botswana National Development Plan 9,2003).
Botswana's unemployment rate rose from 10,2 percent in 1981 to 21,5 percent in
1996, before declining to 15,8 percent in 2000. Despite the fall, the unemployment
rate is still very high and constitutes a major socio-economic problem for the country.
It appears anomalous that unemployment has remained a problem when the
population has been increasing at just over 3 percent per annum for almost three
decades, while the economy has been growing, on average, at 10 percent. The
principal reason for this is that mining, which accounts for most of the growth in the
economy, creates very little direct employment as a result of its relatively capital­
intensive nature. On the other hand, the agricultural sector which is highly labour
intensive has decreased over the years, relative to the rest of the economy. This is
generally a result of the low productivity of the agricultural sector due to the use of
outmoded and inappropriate technologies, which is worsened by the recurrence of
drought (Republic of Botswana National Development Plan 9, 2003).
5.2.3.3 Income
The current median monthly household disposable incomes in Botswana are Pula
734; Pula 430; Pula 200 for towns, urban villages and rural areas, respectively. The
national figure is Pula 373. The corresponding mean monthly cash incomes are Pula
1525; Pula 731 and Pula 441, with the national figure being Pula 833. The national
minimum wage for most industries in Botswana is Pula 2.90 per hour (effective from
June 2004). Formal sector employment pays well above minimum wage levels, while
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