The contribution of non-formal social protection to social development in Botswana

This article documents the non-formal system of social protection in Botswana, identifies opportunities for synergies between the non-formal and formal systems, and considers the challenges of integrating the two. Non-formal initiatives depend on traditional forms of social protection such as self-help, self-organisation, membership of a social group and cultural norms of community solidarity, reciprocity and obligations; whereas the formal social protection system is undergirded by statutes and laws, institutionalised in policy and legislation, publicly funded and delivered within national norms and eligibility criteria. The article argues that integrating the two could produce a complementary and responsive system of social protection that takes account of indigenous and other non-formal systems of support and enhances the delivery of social protection services, and that other countries in the region might derive lessons from Botswana's experience.