Recent arguments have stated that the new livestock development policy will carry a high social cost, that the reality of range degradation in Botswana has been ignored, and that there is no basis for assuming that de-stocking would decrease the productivity of rangeland.

A useful debate is developing over carrying capacity and the degradation of communal rangelands in sub-Saharan Africa. With a few lonely exceptions, scientists and policy-makers have in the past claimed that degradation is universal and livestock productivity lowered because of overstocking on communal range. This position has been mainly dogmatic. More recent research has not supported dogmatists; hence the debate, which impinges on livestock development policy in Botswana.A new livestock development policy is being promoted by the Government of Botswana (Ministry of Agriculture 1991).

The agricultural and rural sector is very important in Africa and enormous efforts have been made to develop it, not only at the national level, but also at the regional and subregional level. However, despite this, the growth of the sector has not kept pace with population growth: according to FAI, the population is increasing by 3.3 per cent per year, but agricultural output by only 1.5 percent per year.

Structural adjustment, liberalisation and the pressures of technological change are having major impact on the institutional organisation of the agro-industrial sector. In industrialised countries, the private sector is positioned to play the vanguard role in the next generation of agricultural technologies. Thus, the ability to promote and sustain new patterns of co-operation in research and development between the private and the public sectors will be a key determinant of future patterns of competitiveness.

The project identification, preparation, appraisal and loan negotiation capabilities of the Research and Planning Section of the MOAC should be further strengthened preferably with technical assistance from outside.

To improve the welfare of the rural poor involved in cassava production in communities in Ceara, NE Brazil, an integrated production, processing, and commercialization project of cassava chips for animal consumption was established.