News stories by Alma Balopi

The evidence of Gaborone's inadequate sewerage system hangs in the air over the Botswana capital's low income area. Pit latrines dominate, and residents complain that the city doesn't empty them frequently enough. But the end may be in sight.

'The Botswana Caucus for Women in Politics has failed to realise the objectives it was intended for, but we will not give up on it just yet,' says Margaret Nasha.

They come like pilgrims to the Department of Geological Surveys office in Lobatse, 120 kilometres south of the Botswanan capital. In the sparsely furnished offices there, they pore over charts, trying to take the guesswork out of choosing where to sink a borehole.

Florence Shagwa, a female councillor at the Gaborone City Council, considers her three-year business qualification worthless.

'An HIV-positive woman must never be encouraged to breastfeed because regardless of what the doctors or researchers say - it is too dangerous for the baby,' says Koziba Kelatlhe an HIV-positive mother who was advised by health workers not to breastfeed her child.

Many Batswana are quick to recoil at the mere mention of drinking treated wastewater.

The vegetables Omphemetse Monyi sells at the Francistown bus rank come from 400 kilometres away in South Africa. One approach to development might seek to replace her suppliers with local farmers, but Southern Africa's water managers are considering the merits of reinforcing a regional trade in 'virtual water'.

Two of Botswana's biggest breweries are putting smiles on the faces of farmers. No, they are not giving beer away: the breweries are planning to buy sorghum from small-scale farmers at prices far higher than the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) is offering.

With the welcome end to wars in the upper reaches of the Okavango River, has come new pressures for development and the risk of unwelcome changes to the health of the river. A joint commission to manage the basin is developing tools to avoid this.

On the outskirts of Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, Charity Molefhi is learning the ropes of the horticulture industry.