Botswana: fencing out the equity issue. Cattleposts and cattle ranching in the Kalahari Desert |
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| Authors: | JS Perkins |
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| Institution: | Department of Environmental Science, University of Botswana, P. Bag 0022, Gaborone, Botswana |
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| Abstract: | This paper examines the advantages of the traditional cattlepost system against the recent drive towards the fencing of Botswana's rangelands and the establishment of privatised, commercial beef ranches. Consideration of operational and environmental factors emphasise the benefits of the cattlepost system, while socio-economic and political factors explain why the current drive towards fenced ranches will continue for the foreseeable future. It is concluded that while the degradation issue on Botswana's rangelands has been overstated, alleged concern for the conservation of the grazing resource is explicitly driving Botswana's current New Agricultural Policy. By accentuating the existing marked socio-economic inequalities within the livestock sector, such misplaced policies will fuel much graver environmental problems, as the underlying equity issue remains unaddressed. |
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| Keywords: | rangeland degradation Kalahari cattle ranching hunter-gatherers Botswana |
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