DRAFT

CRITICAL REVIEW

Sustainable Development and Poverty Alleviation

in Sub-Saharan Africa:
The Case of Botswana
by
Charles Perrings
St. Martin’s Press, Inc.: New York, NY, 1996
[who are the resource users; Perring gives no clear definition: peasant farmers?

traditional/subsistence farmers? agribusiness? landowning elite? MNCs? all of the above?]

I.Introduction

236 pages

A. Purpose

- to consider what lies behind the incentives that currently govern resource allocation in the

dryland areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, paying particular attention to the institutional and other

factors that structure markets in the continent

- to analyze the incentives confronting resource users in terms of their ecological

sustainability, and to identify the necessary conditions for the development of incentives that are

compatible with the ecologically sustainable use of resources

B. Method [divided into 10 chapters (p. 7)]

- deals with important conceptual and policy issues relating to sustainable livelihoods in Sub-

Saharan Africa

- focuses on the rural economy of Botswana and examines the influence of economic policy

on rural incomes and decisions of rural resource users

C. Thesis

- in Botswana during 1986 to 1996, the driving force behind rural environmental degradation

are social and political rather than environmental

- greatest sources of environmental damage have been the restructuring of rural institutions in

ways that have weakened social control over access to the resource base

- damage has also been caused by the distortion of the private costs of resource utilization

through the use of agricultural subsidies and agricultural income support

II.Summary

A. Organization of the Report

B. Summary

III.Critique

DID I LIKE THIS IN GENERAL? WHY?

DID I AGREE WITH THE MAIN THEME/PURPOSE? WHY OR WHY NOT?

WHAT SPECIFICALLY DID I LIKE/DISLIKE? WHY?

DID THE AUTHOR DO A GOOD JOB? WHY OR WHY NOT?

DID THE BOOK ACHIEVE ITS GOAL?

WHAT POSSIBILITIES ARE SUGGESTED BY THE BOOK?

WHAT HAS THE BOOK LEFT OUT?

2
HOW DOES THE BOOK COMPARE TO OTHERS ON THE SUBJECT?

WHAT SPECIFIC POINTS ARE NOT CONVINCING?

WHAT PERSONAL EXPERIENCES HAVE I HAD THAT ARE RELATED TO THE

SUBJECT?

HOW COULD IT BE IMPROVED? WHY WOULD PARTICULAR CHANGES HELP?

WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO OTHERS?

RELATE THE BOOK TO LARGER ISSUES: How did the book affect you? How have your

opinions about the topic changed? How is the book related to your own course or personal

agenda?

CONCLUSION: Close with a direct comment on the book, and tie together issues raised in

the review.