Botswana’s agricultural renewal and the investment opportunity it creates

For decades, Botswana’s economic story has been written in diamonds. That narrative is now being rewritten in soil, seeds, and livestock. Agriculture, long described as underdeveloped relative to the country’s vast land endowment, is moving from the margins of national economic planning to its very centre, driven by a decisive policy shift and a government that has taken the decisive stand on making the sector work.

The numbers tell a frank story. Agriculture currently contributes less than 2% of GDP. The national food import bill reached P14.7 billion in 2024, up from P14.1 billion the year before. The national cattle herd has shrunk from more than 2.6 million head in 2010 to just above 1.1 million today, a structural decline that has eroded Botswana’s historic standing as a beef exporter. Unemployment sits at over 24%. Something has to change, and the Government has resolved that agriculture is a key part of that change.