The Settler Enclaves of Southern Africa and the African Peripheral Areas (Reserves): The Case of the Ghanzi and Tati White Farming Districts of Botswana, 1898–1970

Abstract

This paper examines the origins and consolidation of agricultural enterprise in the white farming areas of Ghanzi and the Tati in Botswana. It argues that similarly to the white settler colonies in Africa, namely Kenya, South Africa and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), the success of white settler agriculture depended on state support at the expense and neglect of African farming in peripheral areas and the country in general. The paper shows how through credit, favourable and racially biased land sales, collusion with white farmers, and the provision of infrastructural developments and extension services, the state propped up white farmers' agriculture in the two areas. This paper also demonstrates the plight of Africans in the African reserves adjacent to the farms and African tenants and the so-called ‘squatters’ in the farms because of the numerous dues imposed on them by farm-owners. The article reveals that the Ghanzi Land Settlement Scheme, whose aim was to assist emergent white farmers, had many features similar to the assistance provided to early white settler farmers in Southern Rhodesia. This, together with other similar aspects in the settler enclaves of the two countries necessitated the adoption of a comparative approach.