COUNTRY PROFILES
AFRICAN REGION
BOTSWANA
Recorded adult per capita consumption (age 15+)
8
7
Litres of pure alcohol
6
5
Total
Beer
4
Spirits
Wine
3
2
1
0
1961
1965
1969
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
Year
Sources: FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), World Drink Trends 2003
Last year abstainers
Female 70%
Male 37%
Total
53.5%
Estimates from key alcohol
experts showing proportion of
adult males and females who had
been abstaining (last year before
the survey). Data is for after year
1
1995.
A survey conducted in 1986 among workers at different workplaces mainly in Setswana found that the rate of
current abstainers was 50%. A greater proportion of male compared to female respondents stated that they were
current drinkers.2
Alcohol abuse
According to data collected for the Botswana Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (BENDU) in 2003 from four
treatment centres, alcohol remains the most common primary substance of abuse reported by patients,
accounting for 84% of the 72 patients. Home brews are the most common type of alcohol used as they are easily
available and affordable.3
Traditional alcoholic beverages
Nyola is a home-brewed concoction prepared from commercially produced sorghum powder. About 750 grams
of beer powder is mixed with five litres of warm water and allowed to ferment overnight before consumption.4
Bojalwa (sorghum beer) and khadi are both home-brewed beer-like drinks that vary greatly in terms of taste,
consistency and alcohol content depending on availability of ingredients and methods of fermentation. Indeed
khadi could almost be described as a ‘designer alcohol’ often brewed to the consumer’s needs and tastes. It is
Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004
© World Health Organization 2004
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COUNTRY PROFILES
AFRICAN REGION
made from a base or ‘mash’ that can consist of a combination of any of the following ingredients: wild berries,
wild pumpkins, wild roots, oranges, sorghum and maize. Yeast, black tobacco or other unspecified substances
are sometimes added to this base to give it ‘strength’, and there have been rumours around Ghanzi of car battery
acid also being added.4 Khadi has a higher alcohol content than bojalwa and has often been the particular
subject of proclamations and laws throughout Botswana’s colonial and modern legislative history.5
Proprietary brand-name alcohol is popular if money is available. Industrially produced sorghum beers like
Chibuku or ‘Shake-shake’ and commercial beers like ‘Castle’ and ‘Lion’ are consumed, and around Ghanzi,
‘Clubman mint’, a cheap 23% alcohol mint punch sold in bottle stores is a favoured drink.4
There are also a number of other local brews with a high alcohol content. The strongest, known as tho-tho-tho,
is distilled from a sorghum concoction and can have an alcohol content of over 80% by volume. Others, which
are brewed overnight from mostly yeast and sugar combinations, have such a high alcohol content that they go
by ominous names such as o lala fa (you sleep right here), chechisa (hurry-up), laela mmago (say good bye to
your mother), monna-tota (real man), motse o teng godimo (there is home in heaven), and so forth. Other less
strong brews are made from wild fruits such as morula. They are, however, very seasonal.6
It should be noted that one of the problems with home brews is that there is no quality control in their
preparation and, concomitantly, no way of ascertaining their true alcohol content or assessing the true alcohol
consumption of an individual drinking these brews over a period of time.4
Unrecorded alcohol consumption
The unrecorded alcohol consumption in Botswana is estimated to be 3.00 litres pure alcohol per capita for
population older than 15 for the years after 1995 (estimated by a group of key alcohol experts).1
Morbidity, health and social problems from alcohol use
In terms of health-related consequences, it was claimed by medical staff in local government clinics that
habitual drinkers among the Basarwa suffer from general self-neglect, particularly poor personal hygiene and a
tendency to ‘forget’ to eat when drinking, which can lead to malnutrition. Physical side effects reported include
pale skin, red eyes and weight loss with more serious cases developing symptoms of alcohol psychosis,
particularly hallucinations and incoherence of thought.4
Socially, alcohol is seen as a contributing factor to an increasing number of traumatic events and injuries
reported at health facilities. Many of the injuries are sustained in violent physical fights or attacks in which
sticks, knives and spears are commonly used. Wife beating is also claimed to be a more regular occurrence as is
the beating of children by adults, hitherto unknown among the Basarwa.4
The economic consequences of habitual alcohol use are devastating and act as distinct barriers to any sense of
development. Informants stated that since a significant proportion of household income was spent on liquor,
less cash was available for food, clothing and other essential items. As one informant succinctly stated: ‘alcohol
makes poor people poorer’. A person who is regularly under the influence of alcohol will have little motivation
or interest in working, unless it is to obtain money to buy more alcohol. One particular problem is that a regular
drinker can easily become economically tied and indebted to alcohol vendors who are only too pleased to
provide alcohol ‘on credit’.4
A variety of delinquent acts and criminal offences were also perceived by workers to be associated with
excessive alcohol consumption. One respondent reported that poaching by the Basarwa was the result of
alcohol-induced adventurism. Another indicated that it was not uncommon for male and female children to
either withdraw or drop out from school after Standard 7 due to alcohol abuse and that some young girls in the
Ghanzi squatter camp had prostituted themselves to buy alcohol.4
Child neglect is an increasing problem when parents are intoxicated so early in the day that they are not able to
prepare food for their children, even if there is food available. A concern is that some parents will sell food to
buy alcohol while others will give alcohol to their children as a food substitute and to stave off hunger.
Generally, the neglect of young children due to alcohol abuse means that these children are under-socialized as
well as malnourished, leading to a refusal to attend school, begging and stealing for food, and other delinquent
activities.4
It has been noted that the fairly high prevalence of folate, thiamine and iron deficiency in the population of the
Ghanzi and Ngamiland communities of western Botswana may be related in part to alcohol consumption.
Alcohol-related violence was responsible for a substantial number of injuries to men, women and children.
Alcohol is believed to contribute to spousal and child abuse, and is a major cause of social conflict.7
Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004
© World Health Organization 2004
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COUNTRY PROFILES
AFRICAN REGION
In a mixed economy such as Botswana, it is argued that one reward for seasonal labour was drinking alcohol.
When the work is done for the day, the labour force drinks. And, they acquire a taste for the drink of their
employers – European style clear beers and wines. Farmers have long ago realized the increased profits to be
gained by paying their workforce partially in “tots” of inexpensive wine. For the employers, it was cheap –
cheaper than paying African labourers only in cash.8
Country background information
Total population 2003
1 785 000
Adult (15+)
1 071 000
% under 15
40
Probability of dying under age 5 per 1000 (2002) Male
Urban
49
Gross National Income per capita 2002
Rural
51
Life expectancy at birth (2002)
Population distribution 2001 (%)
Sources:
Male
40.2
Female
40.6
104
Female
102
US$
2980
Population and Statistics Division of the United Nations Secretariat, World Bank World Development Indicators database, The
World Health Report 2004
References
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Alcohol per capita consumption, patterns of drinking and abstention worldwide after 1995. Appendix 2.
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Molamu L. Alcohol research and public policy in Botswana. Paper presented at the symposium on
“Experiences with Community Action Projects for the Prevention of Alcohol and other Drug Problems”.
Toronto, Canada, March 12–16 1989.
Parry CDH, Plüddemann A. Southern Africa Development Community Epidemiology Network on Drug
Use (SENDU): January – June 2003. Cape Town, Medical Research Council, 2003.
Molamu L, Macdonald D. Alcohol abuse among the Basarwa of the Kgalagadi and Ghanzi districts in
Botswana. Drugs: education, prevention and policy, 1996, 3(2):145–152.
Recupero C. Alcohol legislation and development in Botswana from 1875 to the present: a review of the
relevant literature. Social History of Alcohol Review, 1998, 36–37:50–70.
[Anonymous]. Food and selected dishes. Embassy of Botswana Website, Japan
(http://www.botswanaembassy.or.jp/culture/body5.html, accessed 27 March 2004).
Hitchcock RK, Draper P. Health issues among the San of Western Botswana
(http://www.kalaharipeoples.org/documents/San-heal.htm, accessed 29 March 2004).
Suggs DN. “These young chaps think they are just men, too”: redistributing masculinity in Kgatleng
bars. Social Science and Medicine, 2001, 53(2):241–250.
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© World Health Organization 2004
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