Botswana remains heavily dependent on imported food staples despite maintaining stable food availability levels and achieving self-sufficiency in some locally grown crops, according to the country’s first comprehensive Food Balance Sheet.
The report, compiled by the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture and Statistics Botswana with support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), found that Botswana produced enough food to provide an average of 2,690 kilocalories per person per day between 2021 and 2023, comfortably above internationally accepted minimum dietary energy requirements.
However, beneath that apparent stability lies a structural vulnerability. The country remains overwhelmingly reliant on foreign suppliers for key grains consumed by households and businesses.
‘The national FBS results indicate that the country relies more on imports for major cereal crops especially rice, wheat and maize,’ the report states.
According to the findings, Botswana imported all of its rice requirements during the review period, while import dependency for wheat ranged between 98% and 99%. Maize, a dietary staple, also remained heavily import-dependent, with imports accounting for 80% to 89% of domestic supply.
Domestic production tells a different story for traditional grains. The report found Botswana was consistently self-sufficient in millet, with production exceeding domestic demand in some years, while sorghum production remained relatively strong. ‘The overall FBS results shows that Botswana is self-sufficient on sorghum and millet and highly dependent on imports for wheat, maize and rice for the years 2021-2023,’ the report says.
The data also sheds light on what is feeding the nation. More than half of the country’s dietary energy supply comes from just five commodities: maize flour, wheat flour, sunflower oil, sugar and milk. Flour of maize alone accounted for 21% of total daily calorie intake, making it the single largest contributor to Botswana’s food energy supply.
While calorie availability remained broadly stable, some nutritional indicators moved in the opposite direction. Protein availability declined from 75.3 grams per person per day in 2021 to 69.8 grams in 2023, while supplies of magnesium, zinc and iron also showed weakening trends over the period.
The report warns that Botswana’s food system remains exposed to external shocks through its dependence on imported staples. It recommends greater crop diversification, increased investment in agricultural research, support programmes for farmers and the development of drought-resistant crop varieties to strengthen long-term food security.
The publication marks a milestone for Botswana’s agricultural statistics. Officials described it as the country’s first national Food Balance Sheet, a tool designed to provide a comprehensive picture of food supply, consumption and nutrition trends. ‘The FBS data helps to assess whether a country is food self-sufficient or more dependent on food imports to feed its population,’ the report notes.