Contrasting land tenures on the rural–urban fringe have long made it difficult to acquire land for the systematic planning of the expansion of Botswana's capital city of Gaborone. Inadequate compensation for customary land was addressed by a White Paper in 1992, and current (2003) recommendations suggest that no major changes are required in Botswana's land policy. Those who hold plots on the rural–urban fringe, however, lack the skills that could effectively transform higher compensation payments into new alternative livelihoods. Consequently, resistance to urban expansion has continued, suggesting that building alternative livelihoods in the rural–urban fringe should be considered a priority to solve land problems for urban expansion.