Review of Current and Planned Adaptation Action in Botswana

Botswana faces significant climate risks, primarily driven by water scarcity and rising temperatures, which threaten its water, health, agriculture, livestock, and forestry sectors. While the country possesses higher adaptive capacity than its neighbors due to its development status and governance, the government has not yet made climate change a national priority. Consequently, there is a lack of guiding legislation, strategy, and dedicated adaptation funding. Most current adaptation efforts are integrated into larger regional projects rather than national initiatives, and civil society engagement remains limited.

• Botswana's climate vulnerability is primarily linked to its existing high level of water scarcity, which is expected to be exacerbated by declining rainfall, rising temperatures, and increased evapotranspiration.
• The government of Botswana has identified five sectors as particularly vulnerable to climate change: water, health, crops, grasslands and livestock, and forestry, with water being the most affected.
• Despite its vulnerabilities, Botswana is more ready to address climate impacts than its neighbors (Namibia and Zimbabwe) due to its strong economy, good governance, and social readiness, though it lags in tertiary education enrolment.
• The government of Botswana does not consider climate change a national priority, resulting in a lack of guiding policy, legislation, and strategy, although some documents are currently being drafted.
• Climate change is integrated into the National Development Plan (NDP) 10 and the national disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategy, but it is absent from the guiding Vision 2016 and the 1991 national agriculture policy.
• Adaptation programming in Botswana is very limited and typically occurs through regional projects rather than national ones, with a notable absence of projects targeting grasslands, livestock, and forestry.
• Botswana has received very little international climate finance for adaptation; as of April 2015, it was one of only four sub-Saharan African countries to receive no funding for CCA from international designated climate funds.
• Climate change is identified as a threat to gender equity in Botswana, as it is expected to increase the labor burden on women for water collection and reduce their income and food security due to their primary role in agriculture.
• The institutional structure for climate governance is led by the National Portfolio Committee on Wildlife, Tourism, Natural Resources and Climate Change (NPCWTNRCC), but it is criticized for only convening just before UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties.

APA

Crawford, A. (2016). Review of Current and Planned Adaptation Action in Botswana. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/idl-55863-botswana.pdf

Chicago

Crawford, Alec. Review of Current and Planned Adaptation Action in Botswana. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2016. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/idl-55863-botswana.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Crawford |first1=Alec |title=Review of Current and Planned Adaptation Action in Botswana |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2016 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/idl-55863-botswana.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{crawford2016review, author = {Crawford, Alec}, title = {{Review of Current and Planned Adaptation Action in Botswana}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2016}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/idl-55863-botswana.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }