In Africa the typical social consequence of drought is an accordion effect in which wealth and income shrink drastically. The poor suffer most severely as their mortality rate rises. Their plight then prompts dramatic increases in international aid. Moving this relief to those in need, however, is usually extremely slow, as indigenous elites and the head of the aid organisations struggle over their relative roles in decision-making. This article examines how a veritable welfare state has emerged from one of Botswana's most severe droughts and why this deviation from the typical African syndrome has taken place.
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