The Arable Lands Development Programme (ALDEP)

The ALDEP was conceived in 1977 and has gone through several phases since then. It provides assistance to needy farmers who are capable of increasing production and household income, the prerequisites for eligibility being the number of cattle they own and their yearly income. The assistance packages provide the approved applicants with an 85-90 percent subsidy for fencing materials, water tanks, agricultural tools and inputs and cattle. These conditions have been conducive enough to attract a great number of citizens to be farmers, but only with minimal involvement in farming.

In the Gaborone area, the target was to reach 11,388 individuals, but to date only 5,484 farmers have been reached (48 percent). Packages received vary from a low of US$ 852 to US$ 4,326 per farmer (GoB,1999). The ALDEP has not been able to significantly improve the performance of urban and periurban farmers as they usually cultivate only small patches of land (GoB, 2000). At present, the ALDEP appears to be more of a welfare programme rather than a development programme.