Agricultural production, its challenges and state intervention in Botswana: a historical perspective

Botswana, a Global South country, used to have a thriving agricultural sector that contributed the largest share to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at independence in 1966. However, its contribution has fallen sharply to about 2%. This has been attributed to a range of factors, paramount being the discovery and exploitation of diamonds in the post-independence era. Nonetheless, efforts have been made to revive the agricultural sector through various state-supported initiatives. This article uses secondary data to assess production trends of major agricultural products. It also qualitatively analyzes challenges and state intervention in the sector. Beef cattle production is the sector’s backbone, contributing 80% to the agricultural GDP. Despite the government’s plans and programs implemented in different periods, the production of main agricultural products, namely maize, sorghum, millet, and cattle, are dwindling along with the high interannual variation. This has serious implications for national food sovereignty. Botswana’s dependency on food imports is ever-increasing. However, vegetable production is an exception. It is receiving more attention from farmers and its production is consistently increasing. Similar is the case for goats. Low rainfall, drought, and livestock diseases are some of the factors threatening agriculture the most.