Despite the complexity surrounding the concept of youth, the twenty first century is witnessing
publication of reports by major international organizations such as the World Bank and the United
Nations agencies calling for the recognition of and more attention to youth and their livelihoods. As a
response to such reports, development interventions geared towards improving youth livelihoods are
being formulated in developing countries. This paper presents findings of a qualitative case study
which sought to understand youth livelihoods from the perspective of young women engaged in street
vending in Botswana. It focused on how the participants define and respond to contextual factors
shaping their livelihood trajectories. The findings reveal that livelihoods of ‘the’ youth in Botswana are
shaped by diverse and complex socio-cultural contexts that are inextricably interconnected. The family
emerged to be the main context within which ‘youth’ enact their livelihoods. This paper contends that it
is close to impossible to understand youth livelihoods in Botswana without situating them within the
gendered contexts and the multidimensionality of poverty within their families.