Land tenure and administration
Land tenure in Botswana is divided into three categories namely:
Tribal land: land that historically belongs to a particular tribe. Land administration was traditionally (before setting up of land boards) done by the chiefs. They had all the authority to deal with matters relating to the allocation and use of the land. Hence all their subjects plus those coming from outside the tribes had to make a request for any particular use of land to the chief. It was after the establishment of the Land Boards in 1970, that all tribal land in the country was entrusted to the Land Boards.
State land: land belonging to the state (formally Crown Land under the British Protectorate). State land is further divided into two categories.
- Urban centers: all towns and cities in the country fall under state land. Land acquisition under this category is through the Ministry of Lands. Once one acquires a plot by buying it, then they are given a lease that would normally run for 99 years.
- Conservation areas. These can be divided into game reserves, national parks and forest reserves. Their importance is that of conservation of flora and fauna. Conservation areas are not open for use by anybody except for non-consumptive uses like tourism, e.g. photographic safaris or game viewing.
Freehold land: this is land that is held under private title. It is land that belongs to individuals or companies who determine its use at any particular time. However any change of land use from the original requires approval of the Ministry of Lands.
The area has a long history of arable farming, mainly because of the proximity to the river. Only dry-land farming exists at present because the river is no more flooding in the study area. Crops are rain-fed. However, soils are poor. Since the late 1970's, there has been a trend towards the expansion of dry-land farming outside the river channel due to the lack of river flooding and due to government assistant programmes which promote larger fields for arable farming.
