This thesis is an institutional analysis of the grazing lands in Matsheng
area, Kgalagadi District in Botswana and the purpose is to use the
Institutional Analysis Development framework (IAD) in order to examine how
the institutional arrangements affect the probability for cattle owners to
successfully govern the grazing land. Grazing land is what Elinor Ostrom
defines as a common pool resource and has been governed as a common
property in Botswana. According to Garrett Hardin's "The tragedy of the
commons" this kind of resource and resource management are doomed to fail
with the outcome of land degradation. Instead Hardin suggests that common
property could be changed into either private or state owned property. This
argument led to the implementation of the Tribal Grazing Land Policy in
1975. All land was zoned into three different areas: reserved land,
commercial land, and communal land. Dividing the areas was assumed to
relieve the grazing pressure in the communal lands. The government stressed
that the traditional system of land tenure was structured in such a way
that individuals lacked the incentives to conserve the common grazing land.
The policy's objectives were to stop degradation, promote economic equality
and increase commercialization in the livestock industry. However, none of
the policies objectives has been realized. Ostrom has a more optimistic
view to common property and common pool resources and she believes that it
is possible to overcome the "tragedy of the commons". Ostrom had developed
three sets of contextual variables that determine whether a resource will
be used in a sustainable way or not. These three sets of variables:
institutional arrangements, the physical attributes of the resource, and
the attributes of the community are brought under the name "Institutional
Analysis and Development Framework", IAD. I have analyzed several factors
by doing interviews with cattle owners in Hukuntsi and Lehututu and by
using secondary data. I have found that the present resource management in
Matsheng is not sustainable! The skewed income variance, the lack of
indicators, and the ongoing degradation of water and land, are few factors
that hinder cattle owners from investing in resource management. Also, the
dual grazing right make few wealthy cattle owners benefit
disproportionately which ...
