Namibia: Focus Turns to Environmental Rehabilitation As Farmers Lose Out
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Namibia Economist (Windhoek)
1 August 2008
Posted to the web 1 August 2008
Windhoek
Namibia's tourism conservancy areas, although generating sizeable income, have not fully benefited the communities because they are not being run in an economic and sustainable manner.
NNF Executive Director Chris Brown and Dr Kalumbi Shangula, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, after signing of the CPP-MoU this week. UNDP Resident Representative to Namibia, Simon Nhongo, witnesses the occasion.
This was the view of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative to Namibia, Simon Nhongo, who said that three quarters of the country's population was dependent on communal land, with most not being able to use the land sustainably.
Nhongo was speaking in Windhoek this week at the launch of the Country Pilot Partnership (CPP) programme in which the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) is set to receive US$346 000 for capacity building projects to curb land degradation and encourage proper and economic land use in the country.
The CPP programme is a joint venture between the government, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the UNDP. It will run for the next five years in different regions of the country.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the NNF Executive Director, Chris Brown, and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism's Permanent Secretary, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula.
Nhongo said a number of environmental rehabilitation programmes have been prevented by land degradation, leaving many communal farmers at the receiving end.
"For example, Namibia's income from conservancies has steadily grown from nothing in 1994 to almost N$20 million in 2005. However, on a global scale, these economic benefits are more than offset by damage and degradation amounting to between US$350 and US$870 million a year," said Nhongo.
Grootberg Lodge is the only example of a well-run conservancy in Namibia. Situated in the Kunene Region, the N$4.5 million lodge is run by the #Khoadi //Hoas community. About 3 200 people live in the conservancy, which is 90 km west of Kamanjab.
A partnership agreement to run the establishment was signed in 2005 between the conservancy and some private investors. An income of about N$300 000 was expected to be generated in its first year of operation.
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The recent spate of floods and droughts has exposed Namibia's vulnerability to global problems such as the effects of climate change, lessening food yields and eventually, land degradation.
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