Although diamond mining and the utilization of copper-nickel ores are changing the economy of Botswana such developments are not without problems; for example, shortages of capital, skilled manpower, fuel and water. But agriculture continues to be the most important sector of the economy and will provide the main source of income for the Botswana in the forseeable future. Here problems are even greater; the lack of fertile agricultural land, inadequate moisture and the prevalence of traditional social/settlement patterns and their associated techniques. All these problems are set against the background of a rapidly increasing population.