Provision of Services and Poverty Reduction: The Case of Botswana (Country case study: Botswana) (Draft)

Social services constitute an integral part of a country’s welfare system. The Botswana government has invested heavily in education, health, housing, water and sanitation with a view to mitigating poverty and improving the quality of life. Although there is ample evidence to suggest that most people benefited from this, there have been concerns that social provision has generally been unable to make a significant impact on poverty reduction for the majority, especially those living in rural and remote areas.

This paper examines the link between provision of social services and poverty reduction. In particular, it seeks to provide some answers to the broad social development question: does investing in social services reduce poverty? The analysis pays particular attention to issues relating to educational expenditure, quantity, quality, access and policy reforms in the social sector. An examination of these issues is useful in assessing the extent to which provision of social services have contributed to poverty reduction.