Namibia PDNA 2009 - GFDRR

Income represents the households’ assets as well as wage and non-wage incomes, crop and livestock production, and any type of
capital that the household could have. The average household in Caprivi and Ohangwena is estimated to have lost 12 percent of
their average income in four months. Table 34 presents the effects of the floods by region, level and household. The loss per capita
is highest in the Caprivi Region, and lowest in the Ohangwena Region, and the level of the income per capita in Ohangwena is
among the lowest compared to the average Namibian level. However for the Oshana Region the per capita loss of income is not
significant, despite the high value of damages and higher per capita income. The loss in per capita income is typically higher when the
area is already poor, meaning that poor households are more vulnerable to the impact of the floods, and their living conditions can
deteriorate very quickly compared to that of richer households.
4.3
Impact on Food Security
Those that experienced acute transitory food insecurity constitute the most vulnerable population. They are characterised by single
female-headed households whose main economic activity is subsistence farming. Upon losing their mahangu stocks, their average loss
is estimated at 80 percent.
The negative impact of flooding extended to
the wider population, both rural and urban. The
2009 floods washed away stocks of sorghum and
mahangu stored from the 2008 and 2009 harvests.
These losses directly affected the rural population
that rely on mahangu harvests for subsistence.
Urban households were indirectly affected since
they rely on mahangu transfers from relatives in the
rural areas. Future harvests are also expected to be
affected, since flooding has resulted in reduced seed
availability.
Disruptions to road networks affected the provision
of school lunch programmes, which may have a longterm
negative effect on school children.
Many of the most vulnerable households were still
reeling from the shocks of the 2008 floods, and
Figure 32: Harvests were also affected by the floods
from the aftermath of several consecutive years of
droughts. These households had to adjust their coping strategies such as limiting food intake, reducing dietary diversity, migrating,
borrowing cash, and purchasing food staples from the open market. For a detailed analysis of food security, see Annex 11.
Impact on Gender, HIV/AIDS,
4.4
Governance and Protection
Vulnerable groups and governance systems were also affected by the floods.
Gender
During the disaster, some men stayed closer to their homes and moved cattle and other properties to higher grounds while their
wives and children went to camps. Women assumed the role of being heads of households and had to make critical decisions to
sustain their families. Emergency shelter and encampments created a specific kind of disruption. The lack of privacy exposed people to
reduced dignity and to increased risk of sexual exploitation and abuse. The lack of provision of essential commodities placed women
at risk, as they felt desperate enough to engage in transactional sex to acquire basic goods for their children.
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