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