Economic Valuation of Communal Rangelands in Botswana: A case study

The literature on rangelands is extensive but very little includes an examination of rangeland valuation. Undervaluation of rangelands may contribute to their mismanagement or transformation to monoculture, such as for livestock or wildlife; similarly, this may lead to inappropriate policy recommendations and prescriptions. This paper undertakes a valuation exercise in an effort to address the first two cases of undervaluation. The objective is to estimate the annual direct use value of an average hectare of communal rangeland in Botswana, based on an analysis of secondary data. The exercise incorporates the three major direct uses, both marketed and non-marketed, of rangelands - livestock, wildlife and gathering.