Botswana is a country of focus for the Noncommercial Alcohol initiative of Global Actions on Harmful Drinking.

Little is known about the volume of unrecorded alcohol production in the country, though anecdotal evidence suggests that the informal alcohol sector is significant. Reliable data will be invaluable in assisting the successful implementation of comprehensive measures and policies to address harmful drinking.

Botswana is currently undergoing a revision of its regulatory and enforcement frameworks for alcohol sale and public consumption generally. As part of this process, driven by the President, the traditional practice of home brewing for sale and the retailing of chibuku (commercially produced traditional-style sorghum beer) from private homes have come under scrutiny. The long-standing ministerial exemption of the relevant portions of the Liquor Act is set to be revoked—likely in the course of 2011—and only commercially licensed premises will be permitted to sell alcohol. These changes will have a radical impact on the noncommercial alcohol landscape of Botswana.

At the request of ICAP, Emang Professional Services, a Botswana research consulting company, designed and conducted a Pilot Study of Noncommercial Alcohol in Botswana with the intention of contributing to the understanding the informal alcohol sector and informing on the scope and methodology of a more general National Study that would follow. The 2010 Pilot Study was conducted in one urban location, Nkoyaphiri (a low-income area of greater Gaborone), and one rural location, Mogobane village, 50 km to the south of Gaborone.

Upon completion of a pilot study, we are now working with local researchers in the implementation of an expanded study.
 

We will report progress regularly, so please visit this page again soon for ongoing updates on our efforts.