The Botswana Association of Tribal Land Authorities (BATLA) is a non-governmental, non-partisan and non-profit making organisation registered with the Botswana Registrar of Societies in 1991. The association has recently been recognised under the Tribal Land Act of 2018. BATLA exists to serve as a key land management advisory body to the Government of Botswana.

OBJECTIVES

1. Protecting and promoting the interests of Tribal Land Authorities and BATLA members
2. Undertaking empirical studies on land management, environmental policy and development planning in pursuit of sustainable human settlements
3. Providing advice and technical inputs into negotiation processes for international agreements aimed at achieving sustainable land management for prosperity and harmony
4. Fostering the exchange of information and networking between BATLA and organisations or individuals that have interests in land management at the local and international level
5. Mobilisation of funding and other resources to deliver the Association’s mandate

Membership

Membership is currently comprised of Land Board members who voluntarily subscribe to the Association. However, under the new Tribal Land Act Section 52(2) provides that the membership of the Association is open to all Land Boards. This means that all the Land Boards as body corporates including its members will in turn be members of BATLA.

Secretariat

The Association’s secretariat is currently manned by 4 officers; an Executive Secretary who is responsible for the daily administration, a Finance Officer, an assistant administration officer, an assistant credit controller. With the recognition of BATLA under the Tribal Land Act, it is anticipated that the Secretariat will be sufficiently resourced to become a fully-fledged structure.

BATLA ACHIEVEMENTS

BATLA continuously engages with the Ministry of Land Mangement, Water & Sanitation Services (MLWS) as its immediate stakeholder on various aspects of improving Botswana’s land management. The Association has successfully hosted land management stakeholder forums and has been a proponent of the following:

1. Improved recruitment process and calibre of Land Board Members
2. Land Board Members Conditions of Services
3. Land  Board Members Code of Conduct and Ethics
4. Integrated Farming Policy
5. Botswana Land Policy
6. Land Board Members and Staff welfare schemes/programmes
7. Inaugural Botswana Land Symposium

NATIONAL FORUMS 

BATLA is a member of  the following Forums:

1. Rural Development Council (RDC)
2. National Economic Development Council (NEDC)
3. Decentralisation Policy Reference Group
4. University of Botswana Land Management Curriculum Advisory Board