Living Land

[

] 57

The identification of desertification as a threat to national

development and the need for the sustainable management

of land has been a leading priority for the Government ever

since independence in 1990.

The Government, in partnership with non-governmental

organizations, donor agencies, academic institutions and the

private sector, embarked on a National Action Programme

to Combat Desertification (NAPCOD) in 1994, a full three

years before it ratified the UNCCD. Namibia was one of the

first developing countries to implement a national action

programme and it laid a lot of the groundwork for tackling

challenges at the national and local level. It systematically

addressed a number of shortcomings in the areas of policy,

institutional and individual capacity, awareness-raising, moni-

toring and community engagement in land degradation issues.

NAPCOD came to an end in 2005 but its pioneering work

and lessons were built on through the Global Environment

Facility-funded Country Pilot Partnership Programme for

Integrated Sustainable Land Management, which ran from

2007 to 2012 and included the following four subprojects.

The Integrated Sustainable Land Management Support/

Adaptive Management Project had a mission to find inno-

vative ways of managing land in a way that restores the

natural environment and increases income-generating

opportunities for communities.

The Climate Change Adaptation Project, through

improvement of traditional crops and livestock farming,

developed and piloted a range of effective coping mecha-

nisms to assist farmers in Namibia’s North-Central regions

to better cope with climate change.

The CALL-C Project: Enhancing institutional and human

resource capacity through local-level coordination of integrated

rangeland management and support tested ways for communi-

ties to work together with government and other bodies to better

manage grazing lands in the North-Central regions.

The Kalahari-Namib Project is a transnational project

involving Namibia, Botswana and South Africa to imple-

ment sustainable land management practices in the

Molopo-Nossob basin area. The implementation of this

project in Namibia was delayed and it is now being imple-

mented in the period 2013-2016.

In 2014, Namibia’s Third National Action Programme

(NAP3) to the UNCCD was launched as an overarching

strategic document aiming to “prevent and reverse deser-

tification and land degradation in affected areas and to

mitigate the effects of drought in Namibia in support of

poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.” NAP3

contains six desired outcomes for the period 2014-2024

and is fully aligned with the UNCCD 10 Year Strategic

Plan. A national sustainable land management committee,

involving different line ministry representatives, non-

governmental organizations, donor agencies, academic

institutions and the private sector, is spearheading the

implementation of NAP3.

Stocking density in carrying capacity in terms of kg/hectare in Namibia

Source: Mendelsohn 2002

60–80

40–60

80–100

More than 100

Overstocked

Stocked near carrying capacity

Potential for more stock

Stocking density – carrying capacity (kg/ha)

Protected areas

Veterinary fence

Less than -60

-20–-40

-40–-60

-20–20

20–40

iving

and