Botswana Drought: Aid (Hansard, 10 May 1982)

§ Lord Alport
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, the Botswana Government has been informed that up to £200,000 of additional financial assistance will be made available in the current financial year for drought relief measures 7 to be agreed with them. In the meantime, three 5-ton 4-wheel-drive lorries have been presented to the Botswana Government for the transportation of food supplies to drought stricken areas.

§ Lord Alport
My Lords, while thanking my noble friend for his Answer, may I ask whether the Government will bear in mind that this small country deserves our assistance on the basis of its admirable record of constitutional stability since its independence, and that the continuance of this constitutional and social stability is of importance to the stability of the whole of southern Africa?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, I agree with what my noble friend has said. If I may add to what my noble friend has said from his experience of this country, I realise that Botswana is going through a difficult patch at the moment because of the fall in commodity prices, apart from this tragedy of drought which has struck the country. It is worth bearing in mind that, in addition to the Answer that I gave my noble friend about extra aid, there is the Government's bilateral aid, there is bilateral aid from other countries and, also, multilateral aid. The total of all this means that Botswana is receiving very considerable aid compared with many other African countries.

Lord Oram
My Lords, was it not in Botswana that the late Dr. Schumacher, the originator of the concept of intermediate technology and author of the phrase, "Small is beautiful", did pioneering work in the construction of small, easily constructed rainwater tanks? Would the noble Lord inquire as to whether that pioneering work has been followed up recently and, if it has not, will the Government enter into discussions with the Botswana Government as to whether that would not be a very good way of expending some of the additional grant to which the noble Lord referred?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, I will certainly look into the very interesting piece of information that the noble Lord, Lord Oram, has given to the Government. I think that it is worth adding that, as to how the additional aid to help relieve the drought is to be used, it is, I understand, to be decided by the British High Commissioner acting on the advice of the British Development Division in southern Africa based in Lilongwe, in consultation, of course, with the Botswana Government.

§ Lord Somers
My Lords, has the Government any information as to whether the main source of water in Botswana could be expanded?

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, I am afraid that I cannot answer that specific question. There is no doubt that what has happened in this case is that the rains, when they were supposed to come at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, failed. I believe that some rain has now begun, but, of course, very late.

§ Lord Wells-Pestell
My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether he can indicate to the House how the 8 amount which the Government will give, to which he has referred, is likely to be spent? May I ask whether there are any schemes for the digging of wells? When I myself was in Botswana a few years ago I was given to understand that there is a fair amount of water in places where there is a drought at some 100 ft. to 120 ft. below ground level. The problem was the cost of constructing the wells. I wonder whether noble Lord has any information on that.

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, I do not want to cut off the noble Lord with my answer, but I do not think that I can add to what I have just said about the way in which the uses to which extra aid will be put would be decided. In essence, it will be by discussion and consultation between us and the Botswana Government. It is worth adding that, in addition to trying to go to the root of the problem, to which the supplementary questions of the noble Lords, Lord Oram and Lord Wells-Pestell, are directed, there is the matter of immediate relief. This is where aid not only from us but from other countries, including the USA, Norway, Sweden and the Federal Republic of Germany, will come in very useful.

§ Lord Brockway
My Lords, while welcoming the additional aid that has been offered and the assurance by the Minister that he will consider the constructive proposals made from this side of the House, may I ask this question: Will the Government keep in consideration the fact that Botswana is now a frontline state for democracy in Africa and that the success of democracy in Botswana will largely depend upon the economic assistance which it receives? Will the Government bear that worldwide principle in mind?

§ Lord Belstead
Yes, my Lords, the Government will bear that in mind.