20. Survey data were collected from two well-defined areas. The first study area is called Kgatleng, a district located immediately north of the capital Gaborone while the second study area is Palapye, which is part of Central District and is located in north-eastern Botswana (Map 1). The areas are of similar size (around 7,500 km²) and stocking rates exceed the estimated potential carrying capacity (PCC). 4 The present stocking rate expressed as a ratio of the PCC is 1.56 in Kgatleng and even higher in Palapye at 2.5. Although both regions are semi-arid, in comparison to Palapye region, Kgatleng has more productive soils, more rainfall and better groundwater prospects. Opinions of local farmers in both regions confirmed the poor state of the rangelands. Whilst in the past they had considered water as the major constraint to livestock development, lack of glass has now become the major bottleneck.
21. In terms of population and the related pressure on natural resources, the picture varies. Kgatleng has a higher population density (5.6 persons/km² compared to 1.7 in Palapye region) and a higher arable density, but Palapye region holds more livestock. The socio-economic stratification of both regions is fairly similar. Less than 20% of the households belong to the upper stratum (that is, households owning more than 40 heads of cattle), the remainder being almost equally divided between the middle (up to 40 cattle) and lower (no cattle at all) strata. In Palapye region, there are slightly more households without cattle (44% against 38% in Kgatleng).
22. There is an institutional difference between the two regions with important implications for access to natural resources, including rangelands. Traditionally, access to these resources has been confined to one's district. Although nowadays applications can be made for land or water rights outside one's district, this is in practice difficult and still rare. Kgatleng is a district and has its own administrative institutional structure. In contrast, the Palapye region is a sub-unit of Central District, administered by district institutions some 70 km away. The implication of this institutional difference is that Kgatleng's rangelands can almost exclusively be used by its inhabitants; Palapye region's rangelands can be utilised by people from outside the area as indeed happens. It is estimated that as much as 80% of the livestock in Palapye region are owned by households from elsewhere in Central District.
