stock, bee-keeping, backyard gardening, literacy skills and business management training; upholstery, jam and pickle products, leather works, among others. Since inception, the government allocated a cumulative budget of BWP520 million (approx USD52million) to the Poverty Eradication Projects to date. The population living below the poverty datum line (PDL) has been declining over the years. In 1983/84, the estimated population living below the PDL was 59% to 30.6% in16 to 19.4% while in 2013 it was at 19.3%. The Government’s determination to end extreme poverty by 2016 has taken Botswana closer to eradicating abject poverty. According to the UN, the hunger target is achievable because the basic needs are met in Botswana. The country is projected to halve the proportion of people whose income is less than US$ 1.00/day and to reduce, by 50%, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger and malnutrition by 201617. The country’s expansive social safety net regime (Old Age Pension; Destitute Cash Allowance; and Orphans and destitute food packages) ensures that the food needs of those with heightened vulnerability to hunger and malnutrition (destitute persons, orphans, and persons with HIV and AIDS) are met. Women continue to represent a high proportion of the nation’s poor, representing 10.7% of the population living below the PDL compared to 8.6% of males. In order to address poverty among women, the Government through the National Gender Machinery continues to support women and women’s groups by providing grants to promote their economic empowerment. In 2012, as a special measure, the Government allocated 5% from the alcohol levy fund to women empowerment programmes in an effort to address poverty among women and consequently improve their participation in the economic development of the country. During 2014/2015 financial year, Government increased its allocation from the alcohol levy fund to 10%. As at September 2015, P1, 867, 586, 562.00 had been accumulated into the alcohol levy.18 See Policy Brief “Natural resources and poverty in Botswana: development linkages and economic valuation”, UNDP-UNEP Poverty-environment initiative, PEI 2013, page 1. 16 17 See http://www.bw.undp.org/content/botswana/en/home/mdgoverview/overview/mdg1/ (visited on August 23, 2015) 18 State of the Nation Address 2015 34 | P a g e