Rain-fed agriculture constitutes the livelihood base for the vast majority of rural inhabitants in developing countries as a source of food security, employment and cash income. Nevertheless, rain-fed agriculture is extremely vulnerable to climate variability and droughts. Changes in rainfall patterns and droughts increase the likelihood of short-run crop failures and long-run production declines causing food insecurity. For commodity-based economies, this shortfall is normally met through imports financed by revenues from mineral exports. However, the 2008 global recession that saw commodity prices plummeting and at the same time food price increasing exacerbated the food insecurity in these countries. The impending recession due to Euro crisis is likely to be a death blow. This article explores the climatic limitations to rain-fed agriculture and the confounding effects of global recession on food security in Botswana. The analysis identifies rainfall spatial variability and its relationship to yield instability. While food price increases and the financial meltdown co-acted to amplify the already dire climate-induced food insecurity in the country. This article discusses policies that the government could adopt to help its farmers adapt to climate variability and also to future financial perturbations that are likely to constrain food security.