Famine incomes and employment: Has Botswana anything to teach Africa?

Hay, Roger

doi:10.1016/0305-750x(88)90113-1

Cited by 23 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…This was a stunning achievement and has been cited as an exemplary case of famine prevention (Drbze, 1990: 151-8;Hay, 1988;Valentine, 1993). However, although starvation was averted, the drought relief measures have served to accentuate socio-economic inequalities and have quite possibly undermined the capacity of the majority of rural peoples to produce their own subsistence requirements and to support themselves.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Drought as a Revelatory Crisis: An Exploration of Shifting Entitlements and Hierarchies in the Kalahari, Botswana

Solway¹

1994

Development and Change

106

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This article analyses drought in Botswana as a ‘revelatory crisis' in which structural contradictions as well as deteriorating socio‐economic conditions are exposed. Paradoxically, however, drought also enables such conditions to be concealed because they can be attributed to the ‘crisis' and not to deeper problems and trends. In addition, crises such as droughts disrupt conventional routine sufficiently to allow actors (including government policy‐makers as well as rural producers) to innovate with normative codes. This fact along with the opening up of structural fault lines often leads to accelerated rates of social change. Change is analysed here both in terms of the structural conditions in which it takes place (and alters) and with regard to the actions taken by individuals and institutions in order to reveal the links between structure and agency. The article draws upon an extended case study from Central Botswana and utilizes Sen's method of entitlement analysis to examine changing social processes.

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mentioning

confidence: 96%

Drought as a Revelatory Crisis: An Exploration of Shifting Entitlements and Hierarchies in the Kalahari, Botswana

Solway¹

1994

Development and Change

106

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“…Consequently, the exploitation of diamonds has done little, beyond finance clinics and roads, to change the character of Botswana or the social relations of production that support it. With almost three-quarters of all rural households considered impoverished and an annual urban growth rate of 10%, mostly consisting of unemployed rural migrants (Abucar & Molutsi, 1993;Hay, 1988), the central feature of contemporary Botswana is the shantytowns that have sprung up within the capital city, Gaborone. The residents of these communities, many of whom are first generation urban habitués, still adhere to customary norms of conduct as the links to rural villages continue to be a fresh memory.…”

Section: The Independence Period: Democracy and Diamondsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional Society and Urban Democratic Policing in Botswana

Roth¹

2007

Police Practice and Research

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Traditional African systems of social control typically have revolved around deference to chieftaincy authorities. During the colonial period, developmental neglect and a subsistence/feudal mode of production in Botswana produced a model of customary social control. Since independence, however, Botswana has forged extraordinary rates of economic and urban growth placing strains on both its adherence to traditional norms and its attempt to construct a police institution based on the rule of law. Drawing on official data and field interviews, this paper seeks to understand some of the constraints encountered in establishing Third World democratic police forces.

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“…It must be kept in mind that the rural economy in southern Africa is varied and complex. There are diverse sources of income and subsistence for rural households (Hay 1988; Sporton and Thomas 2002; Wiessner 2004). Rural people in Botswana and Namibia (and elsewhere in the region) tend to spread their risk, diversifying their subsistence and income sources.…”

Section: Ju/’hoansi Communities In Western Ngamiland (North West Distmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1985, 90 percent of households surveyed by Hay (1988) were receiving some kind of food ration, and 43 percent were receiving between 100 and 300 kg of food per annum. Table 2 presents data on the goods provided to various beneficiary groups in Botswana in the 1980s.…”

Section: Food Relief and Development In Botswana's Remote Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Botswana government feeding program in the past was almost entirely dependent on food aid from donors (Holm and Morgan 1985). According to analysts, the program was implemented and executed smoothly, although there were some initial logistical difficulties, and there was some leakage (i.e., some of those who were supposed to get specified amounts of food did not get it, or got only a portion of what they were supposed to receive) (Hay 1988). The feeding program was particularly successful in addressing the entitlement failure for the poorest households that were most vulnerable to drought (Hay 1988; Holm and Morgan 1985).…”

Section: Food Relief and Development In Botswana's Remote Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food, Health, Development, and Hiv/Aids in a Remote Area of Southern Africa

Hitchcock

Babchuk

2011

Annals of Anthropol Pract

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This article will address the relationships among development, nutritional well‐being, and HIV/AIDS in a remote area of southern Africa: the northwestern Kalahari Desert region of the Republic of Botswana and the adjacent Nyae Nyae region of northeastern Namibia. According to the United Nations AIDS Program (UNAIDS) and other organizations, Botswana and Namibia have some of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. Until relatively recently, however, the HIV/AIDS rates in remote areas of these two countries were lower than the national averages. A major question addressed in this article is why this might be the case. Major transformations have occurred in southern Africa with globalization, economic development, political shifts, migration, and environmental change. While development programs in Botswana and Namibia have had some positive effects in remote areas in terms of increasing access to social and physical infrastructure and, in some cases, to employment and income generating opportunities, the livelihoods and health statuses of some of the people in these areas have declined. This article explores some of the factors that may have contributed to these changes.

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Famine incomes and employment: Has Botswana anything to teach Africa?

Cited by 23 publications

References 2 publications

Drought as a Revelatory Crisis: An Exploration of Shifting Entitlements and Hierarchies in the Kalahari, Botswana

Drought as a Revelatory Crisis: An Exploration of Shifting Entitlements and Hierarchies in the Kalahari, Botswana

Traditional Society and Urban Democratic Policing in Botswana

Food, Health, Development, and Hiv/Aids in a Remote Area of Southern Africa

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