Botswana land policy : emerging trends on economic growth and poverty reduction
Monagen, Ngaka
Before independence, all land in the country was communal land. During the colonial rule land was apportioned into customary, crown land and freehold land to cater for the settlerrs land needs as well. Over the years both crown land and freehold were converted to customary land moving from 49% in 1966 to about 72% now. After independence, crown land was converted into state land slightly changing the tenure system. Customary land was then allocated by Chiefs until 3 years later (1968) when the mandate was transferred to new more democratic institutions. In a situation where people co-exist with cattle, wildlife and lately the environment, there will be forever land use conflicts requiring effective land management principles. Botswana was alert to these conflicts on constant basis as demonstrated by policy interventions later in the discussion. However, as the country developed, new concepts of land use emerged due to cultural adjustments and change in tastes and preference. In this context, the emerging issues are rural poverty, land rights and land use planning. The issues have been the subject of debate in the last ten years and being addressed through policy reviews, guidelines and public education programmes. This paper discusses some of the issues and how they are being resolved.
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