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

Abstract

This paper analyzes the objectives, structure and success of the Botswana Drought Relief Program between 1982 and 1985 in terms of its impact on lost income and employment. The design of Botswana's famine containment strategy was directed towards the replacement of lost income and the preservation of productive assets. It was successful in reaching all of its stated objectives. However, the paper argues that underlying rural unemployment both precipitated the crisis and was aggravated by it. The paper therefore proposes that famine management should be based on an “employment”, as well as an “incomes”, theory of famine. This is the main lesson Botswana's experience has to offer.