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Botswana

Botswana is often described as a model African country; but its difficult geographical conditions present big challenges when it comes to food security.

 

Afghanistan

Capital

Gaborone

Official languages

English, Setswana

Area

582,000km²

Population

approx. 2.2 million

Population growth

approx. 1.2%

Rural population

42.6%

Gross domestic product

10.95 billion US dollars

Annual income per capita

6,150 US dollars

Agriculture as a proportion of GDP

2%

Severity of hunger according to the Global Hunger Index

serious (score: 23 / trend: -7.9)

Proportion of the total population undernourished

24.1%

Human Development Index

Ranking: 108 out of 188

Proportion of the population living on less than 1.90 US dollars a day

18.2%

A model country with problems

In many respects Botswana is a model African country. The country in southern Africa is as big as France in terms of area, but its population of 2.2 million is only as large as Slovenia. Around 84 per cent of the nation’s territory is in the Kalahari Desert. Moreover, as a landlocked country, Botswana has no access to the sea and has no river sources of its own. It has a semi-arid, semi-desert to savannah climate. Botswana is stable politically and economically. This is mainly due to diamond mining, which has guaranteed the country a certain level of prosperity since the 1960s. Mining currently accounts for 22 per cent of GDP. According to Transparency International, nowhere in Africa has less corruption than Botswana, whose corruption index is lower than Italy’s. Water, though, is a scarce commodity. This is reflected in the name of Botswana’s currency. ‘Pula’ is roughly translated as ‘rain’.

But although the country is relatively stable and has a high level of per capita income compared to other African countries, still many of its inhabitants are starving. There is a big gap between the rich and the poor. The wealthiest 20 per cent of the population have 60 per cent of the purchasing power. The Global Hunger Index shows a negative trend, having fallen by 9.4 points since 1992. Almost 6 per cent of children under five are undernourished. Added to that is one of Africa’s highest rates of HIV. As in Lesotho, almost one in four inhabitants is infected with the virus. One in five children grows up an AIDS orphan.

 

Scarce water resources

The whole country has a long dry season, lasting six to nine months. Botswana’s surface water resources are strictly limited, so the country relies on its reserves of fossil water. There are thousands of so-called cattle posts in the country, which are supplied with fossil water pumped up from as deep as 200m. According to estimates, 75 per cent of people and livestock are dependent on this water supply. With dam levels low, there is currently an acute shortage in Botswana's water supply.　 Botswana is affected by drought about every five years. The Government has implemented a drought programme for such eventualities, involving tanker deliveries to all regions of the country. During the 2006-07 drought, widespread damage was largely avoided due to this. But the programme is very expensive and slows down the development of other projects.

　

Livestock farming – solution and problem

Because of the low levels of rainfall, there is limited potential for the breeding of livestock on farms. Arable farming is only possible on 0.4 per cent of the land area, predominantly in the east and north-east of the country, and mostly for subsistence farming. The most commonly grown crops include sorghum, maize, millet and pulses. The predominant branch of agriculture is livestock farming. 45.2 per cent of Botswana’s land area is suitable for extensive livestock farming. It is mainly cattle, goats and sheep that are bred here, with cattle making up the largest share. There are more than two million cattle in Botswana today. Overgrazing and desertification are major ecological problems.　

 

15.6 per cent of the population work in agriculture. This contributes only 2% to GDP

 

According to statistics, 15.6 per cent of the population work in agriculture. This contributes only 2% to GDP, which is an indication of the extremely low productivity of agriculture compared to other sectors. Nevertheless, it provides large parts of the population with the food they need. As Botswana’s agricultural production can only meet half of its own demand, the country is dependent on food imports.

　

NATIONAL DISH: SESWAA Botswana’s national dish is ‘seswaa’ – beef with thick maize porridge. ‘Morogo’, a kind of spinach, is often eaten with it. Goat and chicken are also popular. Mopane worms are also dried or smoked as a delicacy. They contain up to 60 per cent protein and are rich in calcium.　

New strategies for agriculture

Diamond mining is expected to peak in 2050. Botswana’s Government is working to diversify the economy, particularly in the food industry and in helping to establish the manufacturing sector. Since 2008 the Government has been supporting farmers as part of its funding programme for agricultural development, which has resulted in a doubling of their numbers. The number of farmers growing sorghum has increased in the last few years by almost 80 per cent, while the land under cultivation has more than doubled. There are also considerably more farmers growing maize and pulses today. Total millet production has more than tripled. The aim of the ‘Agricultural Hub’ project is to bring about the commercialisation and diversification of agriculture in Botswana. Through the creation of regulatory frameworks to enable the sustainability of the agricultural sector in the long term, agriculture in Botswana will be changed significantly by 2020.

 

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