The Government of Botswana recognises the important role that women can play in the economic development of the country, particularly in the agricultural sector, with respect to food security at both household and national levels. The study sought to investigate how women in agriculture are represented in the Botswana Agrinews Magazine. Moreover, it sought to establish whether, and how, messages conveyed to audience by the Botswana Agrinews Magazine promote any type of social or economic interaction between farming communities, individuals and/or government and other stakeholders. The sources of data were the articles that reported on women farmers from the sample of the Botswana Agrinews Magazine, over 24 months, that is, from January 2012 to December 2013. This magazine under study is a government publication targeting the broad Botswana farming community. Critical discourse analysis revealed that women farmers participated in events associated with commercial horticultural farming, dry land farming (field crop production), in the arable farming sector, at Consumer Fairs and Regional Agricultural shows for Commercial Farmers respectively, as well as in pastoral farming sector events at Agricultural shows. They also participated in the arable farming sector agricultural activities for commercial horticultural farmers and those for subsistence dry land farming. Furthermore, the results revealed that women farmers encountered constraints in the different ventures, they undertook in both arable and pastoral farming. However, the reports showed that they received support from the government and/or other stakeholders to counteract their constraints. Furthermore, the analysis identified the coverage on the themes of (1) arable farming, (2) pastoral farming, (3) integrated farming, and (4) attitudes of both women in agriculture and Ministry of Agriculture workers, which promoted women farmers’ participation in the agricultural sector.

This study describes and analyses cattle management in Tlokweng Sub District. Two methods were used. The two are households' interviews and a system dynamics STELLA model called the Rain Land Cattle model, which was adapted from the 1990 Braat and Opschoor model. Ninety households, 61% of the 1991 households in the study area, were interviewed. All the households had arable fields and fifty nine percent had cattle. The Rain Land Cattle model uses 52 parameters to predict several cattle management factors, which include rainfall, stocking rate, total grazing area and livestock water availability. The model explored the use of parameters to relate water availability to grazing area and show the seasonality of the water source. Sixty two percent of the household had access to an ideal livestock water source. Cattle graze from the 5000 hectares of arable area for four months after harvesting. This seasonal grazing, optimises the uses of the grazing resource in the small sub - district. The model simulated a S and 20 percent permanent grazing land loss. Such a grazing land loss, increased the stocking rate, decreased the carrying capacity and cast doubt on sustainable cattle production. The model shows that the stocking rate is chronically greater than the carrying capacity. Most households acknowledged that there was land pressure due to the loss of grazing land. A drier climate scenario will lead to a loss of seasonal grazing, reduced livestock water, which will increase cattle emigration and cause cattle management problems. The model is exploratory; it needs to be validated. It is easily understood, adaptable to other communal areas, and identifies the most influential factors in cattle management. The livestock water parameters functioned reliably in the model. Based on the understanding of the cattle management derived from this study, more fenced grazing land is unlikely to improve the cattle management in the area.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Agric) Extension)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

Thesis (D. Tech.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2009 / All over the African continent south of the Sahara Desert, African lion numbers are plummeting to levels where, over large areas of their remaining distribution range, extinction has become a real threat. The main reason for the decreasing numbers is the increasing conflict between livestock farmers and lions. Lions are forced to kill livestock where their natural prey has been squeezed out by livestock and associated farming practices, and the farmers find it necessary to protect their livelihoods, often through the indiscriminate killing of lions. In the Kgalagadi-South region of Botswana, lion/livestock interactions present a challenge to livestock owners and wildlife managers alike. The relatively low ecological carrying capacity and occupied lion habitats in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP) force some expelled young adult and sub-adult lions southwards into the adjoining Wildlife Management Area (WMA) KD/15, which separates the KTP and the communal grazing area. This WMA most likely also contains resident prides. Some of these predators sporadically enter the livestock grazing area. Similarly, large stock often enters the WMA. It is mostly these boundary transgressions that result in livestock killing, and the reaction of livestock owners often leads to the killing of lions. To gather information concerning the nature and extent of the situation, two questionnaires were prepared with the assistance of the Department of Biostatistics of the University of the Free State, South Africa. One questionnaire targeted livestock owners while the other was aimed at wildlife officials of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in Botswana and SANParks in South Africa. Both covered the five-year period 2002-2006. A trial run was carried out to adjust to problem-specific circumstances before fieldwork commenced. Fieldwork was done during four consecutive seasons – in January, February, April and December 2007. Thirty livestock respondents and 13 wildlife officials were interviewed during the first two excursions into the study area. The third visit was to plot the cut-line between the WMA and the grazing area (by means of a Global Positioning System or GPS) and to make first-hand observations regarding movement over the cut-line. During all four visits the environmental (including grazing) conditions and density and distribution of wildlife and stock were observed in both the WMA and the grazing areas. The information gathered points towards a seemingly unsolvable situation. The exceptionally high daytime temperatures and food scarcity, brought about by erratic rainfall, overgrazing near boreholes, generally low carrying capacity and low phosphorus (P) levels, force large stock, i.e. cattle, horses, donkeys and mules, to graze far away from the safety of the cattle-posts during the cool hours of the night, thus making kraaling impractical. Such circumstances enhance exposure to lion predation especially in or near the WMA and the KTP fence. Some lions also penetrate deep into the grazing areas, especially in the arid western part of the study area. This study revealed certain weaknesses in current wildlife and livestock management practices in the study area, the sum of which put both farmers and the lion population under extreme pressure. Most of these shortcomings can be rectified without drastic invasive methods. Such adjustments can result in improved livestock and wildlife utilisation and protection of the lions. For example: the placement of mixed phosphorus and salt licks near cattle-posts to fulfil the need for vital micro and macro elements; addressing unnecessary livestock losses, which contribute to a lower income and less tolerance towards predation (e.g. botulism, which may stem from stock chewing on bones in their desire for more phosphorus, and losses to black-backed jackal, Canis mesomelas, in poorly maintained kraals); more drinking troughs at boreholes to prevent unnecessary shoving and minimise energy waste; and the introduction of more bulls to herds to increase the calving percentage. The study further concluded that there is little reason why stockowners should consider protecting lions. It suggests that significant value can be added to the wildlife (and the protection of lions) in the specific area by making farmers and other local residents share in the relatively untapped ecotourism potential of the area.

In recent years the use of tourism as a development strategy by third world governments has increased, resulting in the intersection of international tourism and local agricultural strategies. The aim of this thesis is to critically assess the impact of tourism development on local agriculture in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. More specifically, the study appraises the current state of tourism and agriculture in the Okavango Delta, assesses the social, economic and environmental effects of tourism development on the Okavango Delta and its communities, examines local agricultural production and consumption patterns, assesses the patterns of supply and demand of food in the region, and evaluates the impact of tourism on local subsistence agriculture, while making use of both qualitative and quantitative data sources. The Okavango Delta region is faced with several socio-economic problems. These include high unemployment levels, unequal regional development, income inequalities and extreme levels of poverty. 'Rural-urban' migration by local subsistence farmers in search of formal employment opportunities has risen steadily since the early 1990s, resulting in unprecedented social changes to the inhabitants of the Delta, and the abandonment of traditional farming practices. This, together with the limited interaction between the local population and tourism industry, is increasingly leading to tension between local and foreign parties in the region. The large proportion of foreign owned tourist facilities and foreign investment results in major economic leakages, and the exclusion of Motswana from any form of meaningful participation in the tourism industry. The presence of foreign tourists in the Delta enforces the need for imports, increasingly damaging local agricultural production as both production and consumption becomes imported. If tourism is to be of any benefit to the local population in the Okavango Delta, there has to be local involvement and ownership. The fostering of linkages between tourism and other sectors, particularly agriculture, is imperative in attempting to bring about socio-economic growth in this region. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.