Living Land

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In line with its Presidency of UNCCD Conference of the

Parties (COP) 11 and the Namib Declaration, which was adopted

at COP11, Namibia has sought to provide national-level leader-

ship in the implementation of the UNCCD and to tackle issues of

desertification, land degradation and drought head-on.

A number of manifestations of desertification and land

degradation are commonly found in Namibia. These include:

• overgrazed and overstocked land

• bush encroached land

• deforested land

• soil degradation

• water degradation.

Overstocking and overgrazing has led to loss of ground

cover and land productivity as well as increased vulner-

ability to drought. This problem is particularly acute in

Northern Namibia and in a number of other scattered

places, typically around large settlements. Open access to

land and unsuitable distribution of watering points, includ-

ing boreholes, is a major driver for overstocking.

Bush encroachment refers to the invasion of undesired

woody species in rangeland environments, which leads to

an imbalance of the bush to grass ratio, depletion of under-

ground water sources, a decrease in biodiversity and decreases

in carrying capacities. It occurs predominantly on commer-

cial agricultural land in the central and eastern areas of

the country. Overall, it is estimated that around 26 million

hectares of land is affected and economic losses incurred have

been estimated to be up to N$1.6 billion per year. It is believed

to result from a number of complex interacting factors such as

overgrazing and reduced browsing in favour of cattle produc-

tion, exclusion of veld fires, and climatic and soil moisture

conditions caused by prolonged droughts.

Deforestation is most prevalent in the more densely-populated

northern regions of the country and is due largely to the unsus-

tainable uses of trees to build houses and provide fuel, clearing

of land for dryland cropping, and unsuitable fire management.

It is estimated that wood is still the primary energy source for

at least 60 per cent of Namibia’s population.

Soil degradation is considered an increasing problem,

caused by erosion from wind and water, and associated

with declining fertility and loss of organic matter on both

commercial and subsistence cropland. However soil health

is not systematically monitored throughout Namibia.

Impoverished soils and cases of soil compaction have been

identified in northern Namibia due to dryland cropping

over many years with limited nutrient inputs or soil fertil-

ity management under subsistence agriculture and through

unsuitable tillage methods.

Water degradation refers to decreased water quantity and

quality. Strong population growth, rapid urbanization and

industrialization and expanding national economic output

all place increasing demands on a resource already under

stress and have the potential to jeopardize the quality of

the resource. Current land management practices are also

leading to water degradation through:

• over-abstraction of water through dams and boreholes

• inappropriate irrigation management which can cause

salinization

• lowering of water tables and desiccation of springs

through invader bush species

• inappropriate provision of artificial water points.

Maps showing suitability of soil for crop cultivation (left) and the types of agricultural land uses practised

Source: Mendelsohn 2002

High

Medium

Low

Small stock

Protected parks and reserves

Cattle ranching

Small-scale cereals and livestock

Intensive agriculture