Factors contributing to land fallowing in a permanent cultivation system: the case of semi-arid Botswana

In 1994 an investigation of the factors causing unintentional fallowing was carried out in Mogobane village, south-east Botswana, through interviews of 100 randomly selected farmers. Seventy-nine per cent of the farmers had not fallowed their fields, 20% had fallowed their fields unintentionally, while only 1% had intentionally fallowed his field. The reasons given for unintentional fallowing of fields were insufficient and variable rainfall, lack of sources of draught power and lack of labour. (C) 1998 Academic Press.