Namibia PDNA 2009 - GFDRR

The recommendations for recovery and reconstruction are
divided into three separate phases to address the damage and
losses that occurred as a result of the flooding. All three phases
should take advantage of local resources and knowledge to
maximize engagement on the community level, and to build
on existing practices that minimize negative environmental
impacts.
The first phase, known as the early recovery stage, would
address the immediate needs that remain in the posthumanitarian
phases. The early recovery stage would lay the
foundation for the medium to long-term phases. The early
recovery stage focuses primarily on social protection and
addressing the needs of the most vulnerable segments of
the population. The needs for this phase are estimated to be
N$0.2 billion (US$24 million).
Medium-term recovery and reconstruction concentrates on
the recovery of sustainable production in agriculture, industry,
and commerce, and on the restoration of livelihoods. These
interventions are aimed at restoring these activities to predisaster
levels. The needs for this phase are estimated to
be N$1.1 billion (US$130 million). They are a cost to the
economy, i.e. they don’t bring additional benefits and they
won’t reduce the impacts of future disasters.
In addition, selected interventions aiming at building back
infrastructure differently and transforming agriculture are
proposed. This builds on international best practices which
indicate that by investing a little bit more to ensure against
future damages (through more disaster resilient building
materials or construction, for example), the impacts of future
natural disasters could be significantly reduced.
These investments would upgrade infrastructure (roads,
water and sanitation), build houses and social facilities with
disaster resistant standards, move some buildings and houses
from low-lying flood-prone areas, and improve use of water
for agriculture by constructing small-scale multi-purpose
reservoirs.
In the housing sector, it is proposed to use flood-proof materials,
to build physical barricades around the housing structure and
in some cases, where houses are located in a highly exposed
floodplain, to relocate housing to safer (higher) areas. In the
social sector, the proposed activities include upgrading 600 km
of access roads to schools and hospitals to all weather roads.
In the roads sector, it is proposed 1,100 km of climate resilient
roads, with adequate drainage structure installed at the
appropriate locations, be built that will withstand temporary
overflow of water and to improve stormwater drainage systems,
as well as urban storm lines in Ondangwa and Oshakati.
In the water and sanitation sector, it is proposed to rehabilitate
and cover the 160 km canal to avoid water contamination
during floods to double the number of boreholes (from 750
to 1500) in the rural areas and to replace submersible water
pumps and relocate waste dumping to higher grounds.
In the agriculture sector, proposed activities include the
development of small-scale reservoirs at village or homestead
level for irrigation and downstream flood protection purposes
on 10 000 hectares of highly vulnerable farmlands.
These needs are estimated to be N$3.75 billion (US$460
million). From an economic point of view, it is investments
that would generate additional benefits to the economy, since
it would (i) mitigate damages and losses from future floods
and droughts; and (ii) deliver development benefits, such
as increased productivity in agriculture, faster growth in the
trade and manufacturing sectors, and reduced water borne
diseases.
In total, the needs for the three phases amount for N$5 billion
(US$620 million), about 5 percent of Namibia’s 2009 GDP.
Table 2: Summary of recovery and reconstruction needs
Phase of Recovery and
Reconstruction
Value
(N$ million)
Value
(N$ million)
Value
(N$ million)
Value
(US$ million)
Percentage
Early Recovery (Phase 1) 196.4 24.1 4
Medium-Term Recovery and
Reconstruction (Phase 2)
1,117.7 137.1 22
Long-Term Reconstruction (Phase 3) 3,755.7 460.8 74
Total 5,069.8 622.1 100
Source: PDNA Team
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Namibia POST-DISASTER NEEDS ASSESSMENT