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This article compares herd productivity, levels of investment and socioeconomic characteristics of communal and private livestock farmers sampled in the southern region of Botswana during 1999/2000. The object is to determine whether land tenure and other socioeconomic variables might contribute to differences in investment and herd productivity. Descriptive statistics show that levels of investment and herd productivity are higher on private farms than on open-access communal grazing. Private farmers are also better educated, more liquid, and have larger herd sizes, but do not differ from their communal counterparts in terms of age, gender, race or household size. Levels of investment in fixed improvements and operating inputs are negatively correlated with herd mortality, and positively correlated with calving and off-take rates, and with liquidity and private ownership of land. While these findings appear to support Botswana's agricultural policy of privatising some communal grazing land to individual farm households or to small, organized groups of farmers, it is clear that land tenure is not the only variable of policy interest. A more rigorous analysis of the data is required to untang e the causes of observed differences in herd productivity and investment. 1.

In many African countries, a high proportion of the population resides in the rural areas and derives their incomes mainly from agriculture. This notwithstanding, there is a growing evidence that incomes from nonfarm employment sources are increasingly becoming important among the rural population. Using Botswana's rural household survey data, this paper examines the relative contributions and implications of agriculture and nonfarm employment to rural household incomes. Contrary to the popular held view that most rural households derive their income mainly from agriculture, the fmdings of this analysis clearly indicate that nonfarm employment is the dominant source of income in the study area. It accounted for 53% of the average total farm-household income of P4787 (1US$ = P2.49). Remittances alone contributed a substantial share of 37% and constitute an important source of income for most households in the area. On average, 40% of each household's labour force were migrant workers. As regards employment in the area, agriculture employed more than 88% of the active labour force in the villages. The relatively low contribution (47%) from agriculture implies that the potential for savings, investment and development of entrepreneur skills among most people in the area is limited. This situation is likely to encourage rapid rural-urban migration of a considerable proportion of the youth in the area. It is suggested that development strategy of Botswana government should concentrate on sustainable agricultural growth and establishment of rural enterprises to increase both income and employment shares of agriculture and non-agricultural activities, respectively, as well as rural entrepreneurship 1.

Agrekon, Vol35 No 2 (June 1996) Panin and Mahabile LANDBOUPRODUKSIEGROEI IN DIE SADCSTREEK : 'N ONTLEDING VAN BEkNUOEDENDE FAKTOREOor die afgelope hvee dekades is die prestasie van landbouproduksie in die Suider-Afnkaanse Ontwikkelingsgemeenskap @m) gekenmenk deur h e gmeikoeme. h r s s n i t tydreeksdta van 1974 tot 1990 is gebruik om die @tore w t totale landbou-en voedrelproduksiegroei in die streek b e p l , te ondemoek Die resultate toon dat IandbouweAzrs, bewenhe pnd, kunsmis en die gebruik van trekkers betekenisvolle effekte op die regionale totale landbou-en voedselpduksie gehad het. Gesamentlik het hierdieSaktore -sen 37 en 41% van die totole variasie in voedsel-en Irmdbacprcduksiegroei verklaar. Dit impliseer dat ander vemnderlikes wat wens dataprobleme nie in die model ingesluit is nie, ' n baie belangrike rol speel. Hierdie bevindings mag belanpike implikasies inhou vir die verbetering van die prestasie van die voedsel en landbmektore in die streek In die bevordering van voedsel-en landbougroei behoort SADC regerings nie slegs te konsentreer op verbeterings in die produktiw'teit van die vier konvensionele produkriefaktore nie, maar ook op ander pammeters. Ander beleidsvenvarite vemnderlikes soos pdusentepryse, wersfiktore, en besproeiings-en grondagteruitgungsindekse behoort aaridug te ontvang.