The water
Towns are mostly treated; camps bottle or filter — never drink river water. Tap water: Varies.
Botswana
The Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta, where the Okavango River fans out into the Kalahari and never reaches the sea (UNESCO World Heritage, 2014).
RegionAfricaCurrencyBWPPowerType C/D/M, 230VTap waterVaries
Good
Eco Index
What to expect on the ground
At a glance
Food & farming
Botswana has very little arable land in its dry, sandy interior and imports the majority of its staple food, chiefly from South Africa, so the low 16.2 per cent food share of merchandise imports understates real dependence. It…Read more
Botswana has very little arable land in its dry, sandy interior and imports the majority of its staple food, chiefly from South Africa, so the low 16.2 per cent food share of merchandise imports understates real dependence. It does have a large and export-oriented cattle and beef sector that gives it genuine agricultural weight. Crop self-sufficiency, though, is low and vulnerable to drought.
Local staples
Sorghum and maize porridge (bogobe and pap), beef (seswaa), morogo (wild leafy greens), beans, melons and phane (mopane worms).
Markets
Everyday town markets and roadside produce stalls, with no strong single market-day tradition.
In season
Rain-fed sorghum, maize and beans harvested around April to June after the November to March rains.
Wildlife
Botswana holds the world's largest elephant population, estimated around 130,000, and the Okavango Delta and Chobe support outstanding concentrations of lion, leopard, wild dog, buffalo and antelope. It is one of Africa's most…Read more
Botswana holds the world's largest elephant population, estimated around 130,000, and the Okavango Delta and Chobe support outstanding concentrations of lion, leopard, wild dog, buffalo and antelope. It is one of Africa's most important strongholds for the endangered African wild dog. Endemism is low, however, as the savanna and Kalahari fauna is shared widely across southern Africa.
Found nowhere else
Few strict endemics; the elephant, lion and wild dog it is famous for range widely across southern Africa.
Natural phenomena
Dry May–Oct is superb for wildlife; the Okavango floods in from Angola Jun–Oct.
When to go
The dry season, May to October, for wildlife, while the Delta floods from June to August.
Getting around
Self-drive 4x4 for the salt pans and reserves, light-aircraft transfers between remote Delta camps, and tarred roads linking the main towns.
Good to know
Cards in towns, cash on safari; BWP. Pula means rain — the national motto is prosperity.
Safety
Solo female travel: Take care. LGBTQ+: Mixed.
Only hereThe Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta, where the Okavango River fans out into the Kalahari and never reaches the sea (UNESCO World Heritage, 2014).
Assessed across 10 equally-weighted pillars
The Eco Index, pillar by pillar
58/100
Good
The Eco Index: Botswana
12 pillars, equally weighted, from published sources. All 12 assessed. Blanks mean unverified, never estimated.
Only here The Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta, where the Okavango River fans out into the Kalahari and never reaches the sea (UNESCO World Heritage, 2014).
- Forest cover
- 26.29%
- Land protected
- 29.1%
- Found nowhere else
- Few strict endemics; the elephant, lion and wild dog it is famous for range widely across southern Africa.
- Renewable power
- 0.3%
- CO2 per person
- 3.0 t
- Air quality (AQI)
- 23.09
- Cleanest air
- The Kalahari and Okavango wilderness, far from the eastern mining corridor.
- Water from
- Towns are mostly treated; camps bottle or filter — never drink river water.
- Tap water
- Varies
- Safe drinking water
- 92%
- Cleanest water
- The Okavango Delta, a near-pristine inland wetland and UNESCO World Heritage site.
- Food imported
- 16.21%
- In season
- Rain-fed sorghum, maize and beans harvested around April to June after the November to March rains.
- Plastic ban
- A ban on thin plastic carrier bags has been in force since November 2018.
- Watch out for
- Diamond mining and coal-fired power around the eastern corridor.
- Solo female travel
- Take care
- LGBTQ+ acceptance
- Mixed
- Best months
- June to October
- Getting around
- Self-drive 4x4 for the salt pans and reserves, light-aircraft transfers between remote Delta camps, and tarred roads linking the main towns.
- Power
- Type C/D/M, 230V
- Currency
- BWP
| Pillar | Score | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| WaterWhere the water comes from, and whether there is enough of it | 2/5 | Most of Botswana is Kalahari sandveld with no perennial surface water, so supply leans on groundwater wellfields, the Okavango and Chobe river systems in the north, and a pipeline network f… Full assessmenteding Gaborone from distant dams. About 92 per cent of the population has at least basic drinking water (World Bank/JMP, 2020), but the safely managed share is lower and rural access is patchy. Water is a scarce and carefully managed resource in a drought-prone country. |
| Food and farmingWhat the island actually grows, and what arrives by boat | 2/5 | Botswana has very little arable land in its dry, sandy interior and imports the majority of its staple food, chiefly from South Africa, so the low 16.2 per cent food share of merchandise im… Full assessmentorts understates real dependence. It does have a large and export-oriented cattle and beef sector that gives it genuine agricultural weight. Crop self-sufficiency, though, is low and vulnerable to drought. |
| Plant based and real foodWhether you can eat unprocessed from local supply | 2/5 | Traditional foods include sorghum and maize porridge, beans, melons and morogo (wild leafy greens), which give a plant-based base, but the food culture is strongly meat-centred around beef. Full assessmentFresh vegetable availability is modest and reliant on imports, especially away from the main towns. Plant-based eating is possible but not easy or varied. |
| OrganicCertified and chemical free growing, which is not the same thing as plant based | 1/5 | Botswana has no significant certified-organic sector in the FiBL/IFOAM record, and no reliable national organic-share figure is published. Full assessmentMuch of its farming is low-input traditional cultivation and extensive cattle grazing rather than certified organic. On the certified measure the country scores at the bottom. |
| ConservationWhat is protected, and whether protection is enforced | 5/5 | Botswana protects 29.1 per cent of its land in national parks and reserves such as Chobe, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and Moremi (World Bank), and the conserved total rises towards 37… Full assessmentper cent or more once Wildlife Management Areas are counted. Enforcement is comparatively strong, backed by a well-resourced anti-poaching effort and a national economic stake in keeping wildlife alive. The Okavango Delta is a UNESCO World Heritage site. |
| Wildlife and endemicsWhat lives here and nowhere else on earth | 4/5 | Botswana holds the world's largest elephant population, estimated around 130,000, and the Okavango Delta and Chobe support outstanding concentrations of lion, leopard, wild dog, buffalo and… Full assessmentantelope. It is one of Africa's most important strongholds for the endangered African wild dog. Endemism is low, however, as the savanna and Kalahari fauna is shared widely across southern Africa. |
| Natural materialsWhat you can eat from and carry here instead of plastic, and who still makes it | 2/5 | Botswana basketry woven from mokola palm and dyed with natural colours, especially from the Okavango panhandle villages, is internationally renowned and remains a living, income-generating … Full assessmentraft. Leatherwork and other traditional crafts add to the natural-materials base. There is no large textile industry, but the basket tradition is genuinely alive. |
| Pollution and plasticPlastic law and contamination | 3/5 | Botswana banned thin plastic carrier bags in November 2018, and its very low population density means wilderness litter is limited. Full assessmentAir quality is moderate rather than pristine, with a modelled PM2.5 annual mean around 23 micrograms per cubic metre (World Bank, 2017), reflecting Kalahari dust and savanna burning. Policy exists but is partial rather than comprehensive. |
| Recycling and wasteWhat actually happens to the rubbish once you have thrown it away | 2/5 | Botswana has no national kerbside recycling system, and formal municipal recovery is low. Full assessmentSome private and informal recycling of aluminium cans, PET and glass operates around Gaborone, and a plastic-bag levy has funded environmental measures. Overall recovery remains weak. |
| Energy and climateClean power, carbon emissions per person and the pace of decarbonisation | 3/5 | Botswana's grid is almost entirely coal-fired, with the Morupule power stations supplying close to 99 per cent of domestic generation and renewables contributing only around 2 per cent in t… Full assessmente early 2020s. Despite this, per-capita emissions are modest at roughly 3 tonnes of CO2 a year because overall energy consumption remains low. The government has set a target of reaching 50 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 and plans around 1.5 GW of solar capacity backed by battery storage. Delivery so far has been limited, so the country sits between a genuinely low emitter and a coal-dependent grid. |
| Culture and peopleIndigenous and living communities, and who the money reaches | 4/5 | Botswana's Community-Based Natural Resource Management programme channels safari and wildlife revenue to village trusts, giving rural communities a real stake in tourism and conservation. Full assessmentSan (Basarwa) communities hold deep Kalahari knowledge and some run cultural tourism. The picture is not uncomplicated, as much high-end safari revenue flows to foreign operators and the displacement of San from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve remains contested. |
| Living heritage and ancestral traditionsNational dance and music, and the ancestral and spiritual traditions still practised | 5/5 | Setswana cultural life keeps traditional dance and music firmly alive, from the setapa and borankana dances to Tswana choral singing. Full assessmentThe San (Basarwa) peoples of the Kalahari maintain one of humanity's oldest living traditions, including the trance and healing dance and deep indigenous knowledge of desert ecology. Ancestral veneration of badimo, the ancestors, remains woven through community life alongside Christianity. UNESCO has recognised living elements such as Dikopelo folk music and the Seperu folkdance. |
Before you go
Cards in towns, cash on safari; BWP. Pula means rain — the national motto is prosperity.
Where these figures come from
- World Bank, Forest area (% of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS (26.29%), 2023 — source
- World Bank, Terrestrial protected areas ER.LND.PTLD.ZS (29.1%), 2024 — source
- Our World in Data / Ember, Share of electricity from renewables (0.29%), 2024 — source
- World Bank / WHO-UNICEF JMP, at least basic drinking water SH.H2O.BASW.ZS (92.2%), 2020 — source
- World Bank, Food imports (% of merchandise imports) (16.21%), 2023 — source
- World Bank, PM2.5 mean annual exposure EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3 (23.09 ug/m3), 2017 — source
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Okavango Delta inscription, 2014 — source
- Botswana ban on plastic carrier bags, in force November 2018 — source
- Our World in Data, CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions country profile: Botswana, 2023 — source
- Worldometer, Botswana CO2 Emissions (per capita ~2.99t, 2023) — source
- World Bank, Electricity production from coal sources (% of total): Botswana — source
- IEA, Botswana electricity profile — source
- World Bank Mission 300, National Energy Compact for Botswana (50% renewables by 2030), 2025 — source
- Wikipedia, Culture of Botswana — source
Living heritage and ancestral traditions
The culture still danced, played and believed
Setswana cultural life keeps traditional dance and music firmly alive, from the setapa and borankana dances to Tswana choral singing. The San (Basarwa) peoples of the Kalahari maintain one of humanity's oldest living traditions, including the trance and healing dance and deep indigenous knowledge of desert ecology. Ancestral veneration of badimo, the ancestors, remains woven through community life alongside Christianity. UNESCO has recognised living elements such as Dikopelo folk music and the Seperu folkdance.
- Setapa and borankana Tswana dances
- Dikopelo and Tswana choral music
- San (Basarwa) trance and healing dance
- Seperu folkdance
- ancestral veneration of badimo
- indigenous Kalahari hunter-gatherer knowledge.
Sleep well, tread lightly
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