Intra-rural migration and settlement changes in Botswana

The system of land use as practised in the mid-20th century was as follows: the fields, called the lands, were found outside the village at distances varying from 5 to 50 km. Every household maintained a temporary shelter at the lands for use during the agricultural season. Beyond the zone of fields were the grazing areas, the cattle posts. Now the large nucleated villages are undergoing some radical changes as a result of permanent migrations to the lands and the cattle posts. This study investigates, with special reference to the Kweneng district: 1) why some people are now settling parmanently at the lands instead of migrating seasonally between their fields and villages; 2) what the implications of their decision to live at the lands are for the rural economy and society, viz: the provision of social services and trading and chieftaincy and local government