Citation

Pitso JMN. Afr. J. Drug Alcohol Stud. 2007; 6(2): 89-103.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Nigeria Centre for Research and Information on Substance Abuse)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper explores types of recipes, ingredients and methods of preparation of home brewed alcohol beverages and perceptions of how they impact on the health of their consumers. A study conducted in the high-density, low-income residential areas of Selebi Phikwe, Botswana, during February and March 2003 comprised 16 focus group discussions; 6 in-depth interviews conducted in liquor outlets; two large groups of 75 and 52 shebeen queens and kings; and 8 in-depth interviews of shebeen queens and kings. Results indicated that the original basic ingredients of most home-brewed/distilled alcohol beverages were of fermentable starch source, such as malted sorghum, water and either white or brown sugar. The majority of contemporary shebeen queens still use traditional local ethnic names for home-brewed/distilled alcoholic beverages, while utilising unorthodox and poisonous ingredients to make their brews more intoxicating. Expedient commercial motives dictate that a lot of what is included in the home-brewed/distilled alcoholic beverages is of poor quality, often contaminated and toxic and this has maligned most of such products. While most informants recognized the negative health effects of consuming home brewed alcoholic beverages, the overwhelming majority alluded to their accessibility, availability, acceptability and affordability as facilitating agents to imbibing them. The study reveals that the currently proposed Botswana National Alcohol Policy falls short of recognising the current realities and dynamics of the informal local brews relative to formal sector brews. The paper calls for a nationally representative study with broader scope that blends quantitative and qualitative data, to foster an evidence-based approach to fine-tune the Botswana National Alcohol Policy