Namibia PDNA 2009 - GFDRR

and affect both urban and rural vulnerable households. The
rural households are forced to purchase their staple cereal and
consume maize meal as mahangu is less available in the flood
affected areas. While maize meal is a commodity available in all
areas, mahangu is only available in markets in the main cities.
Vulnerable households in urban areas that traditionally rely on
the mahangu transfers from relatives in rural areas will have to
increase their expenses in basic food commodities.
Fishing in communal channels and oshanas was observed to
have increased immediately after the flooding as the flood
waters brought a larger crop of catfish and tilapia. Fishing
became an alternative livelihood for some affected people
and increased the available protein. Dried fish are sold in the
market and have provided an alternative source of animal
protein. After the flooding period, with the recession in the
water levels, the fish availability returned to pre-floods levels.
Farmers and villages with their own ponds who lost their fish
stocks in the flood will not have access to that resource until
they can restock their ponds.
Disaster Risk Management Issues
A combination of drought and flood has resulted in a
downward trend in agricultural production in the north-central
and north-eastern Regions of Namibia for approximately the
past eight years. The north central regions contain the highest
concentration of people in Namibia and are projected to
become a major economic centre for the country. To that end,
cycles of flood and drought will cause significant impediments
to growth and must be addressed. In the agriculture sector,
provision must be made to ensure consistent crop production
levels during periods of climactic extremes of both types. Most
importantly, emphasis must be placed on the development of,
where possible, multi-use water management projects that
address both flood control and irrigation. Irrigation schemes
will enable farmers to be more resilient to both floods and
droughts. With irrigation water available, farmers will be able
to plant based on a calendar date, for example November 1 st ,
rather than having to wait for the arrival on the rainy season. If
crops can be planted earlier in the growing season, they stand
a better chance of providing at least some yield should flooding
occur during the harvest season. The benefits of irrigation as a
means to weather periods of drought are obvious. The ability
to irrigate would provide enhanced benefit to the Ministry
of Agriculture’s tree planting and distribution programme,
which is already in progress. Interviews conducted with local
farmers who have received fruit trees from the government
indicate that fruit trees are not being watered as often as
recommended because of challenges related to water supply.
Rather, farmers wait until their fruit trees start to flower before
watering them regularly which in turn reduces the yield. As
stated previously, the agricultural sector in the north central
region is predominantly characterized by small subsistence
farming homesteads. Therefore, a single regional irrigation
project alone may not be the only solution. It is recommended
that small-scale irrigation schemes be investigated at the village
or homestead level in addition to regional schemes. To this
end, the consultation with and involvement of headmen is
recommended. The Government could support small-scale
irrigation schemes through the reduction or elimination of
import tariffs on irrigation equipment, such as pumps. Even
small-scale schemes will have multi-purpose benefits in terms
of risk reduction to the agriculture sector as well as human
livelihoods by allowing small farmers to farm on higher ground
without compromising their access to water.
Other farming practices implemented both on subsistence
farms and commercial farms can improve resiliency to drought
and floods. First, modifications are recommended to the
ploughing method used in the region. Currently, tractors use a
disc harrow for ploughing, which can cover a wide area quickly
but has the effect of breaking down the soil and increasing
susceptibility to erosion from wind and rain. The preference for
disc harrow ploughing relates to the fact that many farmers rely
on the services of a few tractor owners to plough their fields.
In the case of the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 harvest seasons,
farmers’ ability to use draught animals for ploughing may have
been compromised due to flood-related diseases, furthering
the reliance on rented tractor time. Even with government
subsidies, renting tractor time is expensive for many small
farmers, generally costing around $300/ha. Given the cost,
there is an interest in ploughing quickly. Representatives from
the MAWF Oshana Regional Extension office, recommended
reapers and moldboard ploughs as alternatives to disc harrow
to maintain soil structure. Both of these methods, however,
require more tractor time than disc harrowing. Hence, in order
to encourage these practices, Government intervention in the
form of subsidies would likely be required.
Diversification through the enhanced emphasis of existing
programmes and the introduction of alternative crops may also
improve disaster resiliency in the northern regions of Namibia.
Currently, there are two programmes in progress, both of
which run through the MAWF. These are the free distribution
of fruit trees and the distribution of fingerlings for fish farm
operations. Both of these programmes are accompanied by
training programmes as well as on-going technical assistance
and follow up visits. Fruit trees and fish not only are providing
an alternative food source to small subsistence farmers, they
also provide supplemental income. Farmers participating in the
fruit tree programme have become remarkably self-sustaining,
resulting from the quality of the training being offered. Farmers
who were interviewed as part of this assessment had been
able to replace lost trees because they were experienced in
collecting seedlings and other techniques such as budding and
grafting. Not only were they able to cope with the effects of
the flood in terms damages, they are also able to expand their
operations.
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Namibia POST-DISASTER NEEDS ASSESSMENT