Big game, Botswana © Kristi Kenyon

Haircut shack, Thamaga, Botswana © Kristi Kenyon

Health and HIV/AIDS
Food Security
Politics and Civil Society
Minority Groups
Human Rights and Media
Conflict

Poverty in Botswana

Botswana “still has a considerable way to go” to fulfil all of its commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a 2008 IMF report. This is despite its status as a middle income country, often praised for political stability and economic performance. Two very different problems impede progress. Firstly, the rewards of economic growth have been poorly distributed, to the extent that Botswana is the fifth most unequal country in the world, assessed by the Gini coefficient measure. Secondly, the country has experienced exceptionally high HIV prevalence which, despite a determined political response, has had a devastating impact on poorer households.

The MDG programme is superimposed on Botswana’s own long term Vision 2016, thereby creating targets which are tougher than the MDGs. For example, it is very unlikely that Botswana will eliminate extreme poverty by 2016. The rate has fallen from 47% in 1994, the baseline year for the MDGs, but only as far as 30%, according to a 2008 OECD country review. The most positive area for the MDGs is in education where primary enrolment is close to 90%, with parity between boys and girls. Adult literacy is over 80%.

Botswana’s diamond resources are projected to decline from 2020. Currently diamonds provide 70%-80% of export income and more than one third of GDP. However, the country has only recently attempted to build capacity to cut, polish or refine diamonds in order to add value to its leading natural resource. There is widespread underemployment, especially amongst young people.

Health and HIV/AIDS in Botswana

Child, infant and maternal mortality rates have all increased since their baseline year of 1991, almost certainly ruling out any prospect of attaining the MDGs, especially as the deadline has been brought forward to 2011. The major contributory factor is HIV/AIDS which overshadows all of the country's development indicators. The incidence of the virus in pregnant women is almost a third whilst a broader measure of prevalence is 17.1%. Updated surveys were due in 2008 and the consensus is that prevalence is falling from these very high levels.

AIDS prevention on Radio Botswana © United Nations Children's Fund

Setting the ambitious goal of a zero rate of new infections by 2016, the government initiated a multi-sectoral approach identifying the effects of the virus in different areas of life and society. In cooperation with international donors the country has also put in place a network of free voluntary testing and counselling centres, a prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) program, and a national anti-retroviral (ARV) program to provide HIV positive citizens with access to life prolonging medication. By the end of 2007 83% of those who needed ARVs were receiving them free of charge and the rate of mother-to-child infection had dropped dramatically from 40% to 4%. However, with the numbers receiving treatment projected to continue rising sharply, the president has publicly questioned the sustainability of the programme.

Billboard for HIV positive mothers, Botswana © Kristi Kenyon

Despite many positive developments Botswana continues to face challenges both in the equitable and effective delivery of prevention and treatment services, and in slowing the number of new infections. Although the number of people tested has increased since routine testing came into effect, the lack of qualitative data has raised concerns about informed consent - even with increased testing, less than 30% of Batswana reportedly know their HIV status. Education and awareness campaigns are widespread but neglect related topics such as domestic violence and transmission through stigmatised behaviour, including sex between men and sex work.

Public facilities are frequently overburdened and many people either do not seek or are not able to access care until they are seriously ill. Marginalised groups, including remote area dwellers and undocumented migrants, face further barriers in accessing treatment. HIV has seriously impacted on family structures and it is not uncommon for children to raise siblings after the death of their parents. The burden of care usually falls on women, even when both partners are ill.
Food Security and Climate Change in Botswana

Urban dairy farming, Gaborone, Botswana © Kristi Kenyon

Classified as semi-arid, the Kalahari desert occupies 77% of Botswana's land mass leaving the country with limited supplies of fresh water, infrequent rain, and drought as its most frequent natural disaster. The value of this scarce resource is evident in the naming of the currency, pula (rain).

Botswana is therefore unable to grow sufficient food to meet its needs. This arid terrain is aggravated by climate change such that, by the government’s own figures, food production has fallen in each of the last five years. The most recent harvests were 30% below yields in 2000. The increasing dependency on food imports imposes higher prices which in turn impact particularly on the poorest households. The government is seeking to improve domestic productivity by encouraging small farmers to form collectives, offering incentives of free or subsidised seeds, fertiliser and new water boreholes.

Electricity is imported from Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa but the government plans to reduce this dependency by constructing a major coal-fired power station, taking advantage of local coal reserves.
Politics and Civil Society in Botswana

No rush in Botswana © Kristi Kenyon

Since independence in 1966, Botswana has been a stable multi-party democracy governed continuously by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). In the last election, held in October 2004, the BDP won 44 of 57 elected seats in the National Assembly. A House of Chiefs provides representation to traditional leaders from the nation's major tribes. Chiefs of the Barolong, Bangwato, Balete, Batlokwa, Bakwena, Bakgatla, Bangwaketse and Batawana are represented in addition to 4 elected members from the North East, Chobe, Kgalagadi and Ghanzi districts.

The parliamentary election due in October 2009 will be the next opportunity for Botswana to sustain in track record for meeting international standards of free and fair elections. There are a number of opposition parties and dissenting voices are heard and visible in the media. However, an effective challenge to BDP supremacy requires these voices to join in coalition, a step which has to date proved elusive.

The key levers of power are held by the president who is elected by parliament for a maximum of two five-year terms. During 2008 President Fergus Mogae stood down a year early to enable a smooth transition to his preferred successor, Ian Khama, the son of the country’s first president, Sir Seretse Khama. Concerns have been raised within the academic community about this soft method of succession but in 2008 parliament voted down a proposal to subject the presidency to the popular vote.

There is a vibrant community of civil society organizations, many of whom are grouped under the umbrella Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations. Although civil society is quite active, vocal criticism of the government is relatively rare. In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for non-governmental organizations to obtain international funding, due to the departure of donors to concentrate on countries of more acute poverty.
Minority Groups in Botswana

Maarama Phologo, tortured for hunting to feed his family © Survival International

The country has been criticised by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination for its treatment of indigenous and minority groups. In 2002, a number of the Gana and Gwi peoples, a marginalised group also termed collectively as Basarwa, San or Bushmen, were relocated from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) to new villages bordering that territory. The relocation led to the longest court case in Botswana's history and a highly polarized and publicized dispute between the Government of Botswana, international non-governmental organization Survival International (SI) and local organisations.

Following several delays and a successful appeal, a verdict was finally reached in December 2006. The court found the eviction from the CKGR to be "unlawful and unconstitutional," with one judge stating that the rules prohibiting hunting, farming and livestock were "condemning the residents of the CKGR to death by starvation." The government has stated that it does not intend to appeal but its subsequent observance of the ruling has often appeared somewhat reluctant.
Human Rights and Media in Botswana

Apart from this treatment of minority groups, Botswana is considered to have a good human rights record and respect for the law. However, the country maintains the death penalty and has reportedly executed 38 people since independence. In some of these instances concerns have been raised about the fairness of the trial and the lack of notification to family and legal counsel prior to execution. Corporal punishment, in the form of lashings across the buttocks, is administered in customary courts called kgotlas.

The impact of AIDS has also highlighted problems in the area of inheritance, where vulnerable women or children often face "property grabbing" after the death of a spouse or parent. Despite the high prevalence rate, there remains a lack of legal protection from discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived HIV status that continues to occur. Discrimination remains a serious problem and there have been a number of reports, and several court cases, involving job loss as a result of HIV status or the refusal to take an HIV test.

Child care, Botswana © Kristi Kenyon

A patriarchal society is preserved in Botswana. Only four members of parliament are women. Violence against women and children is widespread. High numbers of rapes are reported and spousal killings, locally termed "passion killings" appear to be on the increase. There is no law explicitly prohibiting domestic violence or marital rape. In a move seen as controversial, "marital power" was abolished in common law marriages in late 2004, making men and women joint heads of households.

Botswana is considered to have a relatively free privately-owned press and a somewhat restricted state media. In the past some journalists have been assaulted or faced threats due to negative reports regarding the government and, in 2005 two foreign journalists were deported for this reason.
Conflict in Botswana

A large number of Zimbabweans also live in Botswana, many of them residing illegally and working to earn stronger currency to send back to relatives. Very few are accepted by the Botswana government as elgible for refugee status and, since 2005, over 175,000 Zimbabweans have been repatriated. The government has built a series of electric fences along the border, at least in part, to deter migrants. Round ups, road blocks and identity checks are not uncommon.

President Ian Khama has broken the mould of African loyalty to the despotic regime of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Khama boycotted a meeting of the Southern African Development Community in protest at Mugabe’s attendance and he has called for Zimbabwe to be ejected from the African Union. There is speculation that the Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, might form a government in exile based in Botswana.



The OneWorld Botswana Guide was first published in May 2005 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Kristi Kenyon.

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