Governance in Botswana and Zimbabwe

In Botswana, good governance has led to progress in human development in spite of a small population, a narrow economic base, a poor natural resource endowment, and one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates in the world. Economic growth that depends on extracting and selling natural resources can create problems since countries with large stores of natural resources tend to become uncompetitive in other industries and vulnerable to corruption and rent-seeking. Botswana’s economy depends heavily on diamonds. Although agricultural production has recently increased, opportunities for rural poor populations remain limited.

Despite these obstacles, Botswana’s leadership has made the development of its people a priority. Since the 1990s, hunger has declined from 14 percent to 6.5 percent and maternal mortality has been cut in half, from 300 deaths per 100,000 live births to 150.¹⁶ Moreover, the government has worked hard to ensure that the gains from the diamond trade are used to fund basic infrastructure needs, such as roads, water, and electricity, as well as services such as hospitals and schools. In a recent analysis of governance indicators, including measures of voice and accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption, Botswana consistently ranked among the top of Africa’s most prosperous countries.¹⁷ Botswana’s example shows what is possible when governments invest in people.

The converse is equally true: government actions can easily stop development in its tracks and reverse progress. Zimbabwe illustrates the devastating impact that poor governance can have on a country and its people. Following a massive and poorly-executed land redistribution program, Zimbabwe’s government, led by Robert Mugabe, began to harass political opponents and independent media outlets critical of the government. Along with civil unrest, land redistribution caused an 8.5 percent decline in agricultural output between 2000 and 2005.¹⁸ Since 2000, Zimbabwe’s economy has shrunk by an average of 6 percent per year.¹⁹ The International Monetary Fund estimates that annual inflation was 1,700 percent at one point.²⁰ The political turmoil surrounding the presidential election in March 2008 further fueled the economic chaos gripping the country. Between May and June 2008, the price of a kilogram of maize increased more than tenfold.²¹ The impact of the downward economic spiral has reverberated throughout the country. The latest available national statistics show that 45 percent of the population is undernourished.²²

In 1990, Zimbabwe’s Human Development Index (HDI) score—a composite score reflecting the overall well-being of a country’s people—placed it solidly in the middle of developing countries.²³ Today, Zimbabwe ranks 151st out of 177 countries on the HDI.²⁴ This decline mirrors the increasing repression by Zimbabwe’s government and its failure to deliver social services and manage the economy. The same study that ranks Botswana’s government so highly ranks Zimbabwe at or near the bottom on nearly every measure of governance.

Environmental Degradation: Deforestation, overfishing, droughts, and floods are longstanding problems in the developing world. The most recent problem is global climate change, which could prove to be the greatest development challenge of all.

Human population growth, industrial production, mining and oil extraction, logging, intensive farming and fishing, and a host of other activities are putting significant pressures on the earth’s environment. Poor countries, as they struggle to overcome hunger and poverty, must also ensure environmental sustainability. Environmental degradation jeopardizes development, and continued poverty jeopardizes the environment. “Balancing nature and development so that social welfare does not decline over time is at the core of environmental sustainability,” explains a 2008 report on the relationship between the MDGs and the environment.²⁵

Around the world, protecting natural resources has proven to be especially challenging as poverty exacerbates pressures on the environment. And while some countries are making progress in this area, rapid global ecological changes beyond the ability of any single country to control are threatening to overtake the efforts of many. As the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change details, the uncontrolled emission of greenhouse gases is projected to lead to rising temperatures, higher sea levels, and rapidly changing weather patterns characterized by more frequent and more intense storms.²⁶ In resource-depleted areas, there will be increased vulnerability to natural disasters. For example, trees help to anchor hillsides, and coastal marshes and mangrove forests protect against coastal flooding. In their absence, devastating mudslides and storm surges take lives and destroy the few assets that poor people have.

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¹⁶ Millennium Development Goals Status Report (2004), Republic of Botswana: http://www.undg.org/archive_docs/5308-Botswana_MDG_Report_-_Botswana_MDG_Report_2004.pdf.

¹⁷ Daniel Kaufman, Aarat Kraay and Massimo Mastruzzi (2008), Governance Matters VII: Aggregate and Individual Governance Indicators, 1996-2007, World Bank: http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.asp.

¹⁸ Table 4.1: Growth of Output (2007), World Development Indicators, World Bank.

¹⁹ Bread for the World Institute calculation.

²⁰ Sharmini Coorey et. al. (2007), Lessons from High Inflation Episodes for Stabilizing the Economy in Zimbabwe, International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2007/wp0799.pdf.

²¹ Price Watch (August 2008), FewsNet: http://www.fews.net/docs/Publications/FEWS%20NET%20MONTHLY%20PRICE%20WATCH%202008_August.pdf.

²² Millennium Development Goal Dataset, United Nations Statistics Division.

²³ Human Development Report (1990), United Nations Development Program.

²⁴ Human Development Report: Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World (2007), United Nations Development Program.

²⁵ Global Monitoring Report: MDGs and the Environment: Agenda for Inclusive and Sustainable Development (2008), International Monetary Fund.

²⁶ Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report (2007), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr.pdf.