Agricultural Productivity, Efficiency and Growth in a Semi-Arid Country: Case Study of Botswana, 1979-2012

Abstract

To improve the welfare of the rural poor and to decrease the dependence of the national economy on minerals, the government of Botswana has been spending 40% of the value of agricultural GDP on agricultural support services. Despite this massive investment, there is evidence that agricultural productivity has declined in recent years. This paper attempts to explore the reasons for this decline. We use secondary data from six regions of Botswana (covering the period 1979 to 2012) to construct a Fare-Primont index of productivity following the approach proposed by O'Donnell (2012). The results of the analysis show that annual TFP has gradually declined over the period. This decline is predominantly due to technological regress which is offset by some increase in scale and mix efficiency.