The Political Economy of Poverty Eradication in Botswana

Some members of society, such as the destitute, suffer from diverse vulnerabilities. Poverty is the most profound form of vulnerability. Hence, the state must provide the vulnerable with social safety nets. Botswana, despite being a middle‐income economy, has its share of poverty. In response, it established anti‐poverty programs. Given the prominence of these programs, it is important to ask the following questions: (i) is the government sincerely committed to its own anti‐poverty policies, statements, and declarations? and (ii) has the government demonstrated by deed that it has the political will to implement anti‐poverty programs? The article used a political economy analysis tool to answer these questions. It concluded that there is an anti‐poverty regime with defined institutions, players/actors, and ideas, and the government is committed to anti‐poverty programs. Finally, there are general lessons from the case study. Key lessons are (i) committing to a cause and resourcing it, and (ii) using political party policy to guide the anti‐poverty policy.