b'THE STATE OF RETAIL COLOREDDIAMONDSJEWELRY STONES DESIGNMosinyi says one crop that is under consideration for furtherEcotourism is an opportunity, Mosinyi says, particularly in the development is moringa, a superfood plant.Okavango Delta, where the government wants the experience to be Work currently is underway to determine where in Botswana thelow volume but high quality. soil is suitable to grow the drought-resistant moringa tree and who canIn other words, itll be expensive, but it will be worth it.transform the crop into the byproducts people use and consumetheOne of the largest inland deltas in the world, the Okavango Delta is oils, teas, juices, powders, and capsulesfor export, he says.located in northwestern Botswana. The land is all protected, some as In 2019, De Beers partneredpart of the Moremi Game Reserve with four other organizations onDesigner Caiphasand the rest managed by private a moringa tree project in SouthOthomile foundtrusts or tourism companies. inspiration for the Africas Limpopo province, where2022 Miss BotswanaBut the Delta is part of the the Venetia mine is located, thatcrown in another onegreater Okavango Basin (also of the countrys vital involved 60 farmers. It is lookingnatural resources known as the Kalahari Basin), to mirror that effort in Botswana,sorghum. which doesnt enjoy the same Mosinyi says.level of protection. The basin Another route Botswana isspans southern Angola, eastern exploring is expanding tourismNamibia, and northern Bo-but doing so with a sustainabletswana and is fed by rain from component.Angolas Highlands.Since 2015, National Geo-THE DRAW OF THE DELTA graphic has been working to secure permanent, sustainable pro-In the World Economic Forums 2021 Travel & Tourism Developmenttection for the basin through its Okavango Wilderness Project. In Index (TTDI), Botswana ranked 76th out of the 117 nations studied.2021, De Beers made a five-year commitment to help the National The index benchmarks the factors and policies in place in eachGeographic Okavango Wilderness Project further its mission by country that enable the development of the travel and tourism indus- providing money and resources to protect endangered species, try, which, in turn, contributes to the countrys economy.support conservation, develop job opportunities for people, and raise Botswana moved up two places since the index was last published,awareness about the areas importance.improving alongside its geographic neighbors.Mosinyi says through the partnership with National Geographic, De It also topped all but two other sub-Saharan Africa nations, theBeers wants to learn more about how climate change is impacting the island nation of Mauritius (No. 62) and South Africa (No. 68).area and then empower the people who live there with that knowledge.The report noted that sub-Saharan Africa has had the greatestHe says it wants to provide scholarships for local residents to learn improvement in TTDI performance since 2019, with 17 outabout the environment they are growing up in, become of the 21 regional countries covered by the index increasingscientists, and work to protect the Delta themselves.their TTDI scores. Nevertheless, the region still lags behindDesigner Khumo Makwas So, when the diamond market is not doing award-winning Okavango other regions, undermining its great potential as a T&TDelta pendant well, the economy can balance itself and (travel and tourism) economy.thats really key, Mosinyi says. Its really Africas opportunity for tourism lies in sev- important that Botswana diversify and use eral factors, not least of which are its pricethe diamond revenue to help [do so]. competitiveness and potential for nature tourism. However, several obstacles un- DESIGNS OF THE FUTUREdermine T&T in the region. GovernmentWhile Botswanas diamond mines, support for the sector could be improvedlike the rest of the mines around the via better data collection and marketing.world, will one day run out of fresh In particular, nature tourism can be bol- supply, there are myriad jobs involv-stered by higher-quality online promotioning jewelry that will endure as existing and increased focus on environmentalstocks are recycled and the human desire sustainability.to adorn persists. The draws for tourists in Botswana are, ofJewelry designer is one of them. course, safaristours through national parks likeThe work of European creators Jeanne Tous-Chobe and Nxai Pans to spot The Big Five safari saint (18871976), Suzanne Belperron (1900-1983), and animalsbut Mosinyi says the government sees potential in Elsa Peretti (1940-2021) continue to influence jewelry design today. so-called ecotourism.Their names are mentioned regularly as sources of inspiration (or, Ecotourism is the marketing term applied to the current trendsome might argue, imitation), and pieces they created decades ago of people taking trips into nature that, generally speaking, involveare prized on the secondhand market.getting there sustainably, interacting with wildlife in a responsibleSo, why shouldnt the designers of the futurethe people making manner, learning about the challenges facing that particular ecosys- jewelry 50 or 100 years from nowhave designers from Botswana, tem, and contributing or donating to conversation efforts. the source of so many diamonds, to idolize? 66 STATE OF THE MAJORS 2024'