usaid/nambia environmental threats and opportunities assessment

RESOURCES NEEDED FOR PRODUCTIVE RANGELANDS
Rainfall and groundwater. Rangeland productivity depends directly on rainfall, which drives grass and
browse production. More rain leads to more forage, higher stocking rates, faster livestock growth and
production, and higher yields of meat for cattle, sheep, and goat farmers. Variability is very high and
rainfall is unpredictable from year to year, so that stock farming is risky business. Farmers need to
continually assess how many animals their pastures can support, and should theoretically track pasture
conditions with livestock numbers.
Degradation of rangelands is due to continued overstocking by farmers who optimistically increase livestock
numbers during good years, and are reluctant to reduce numbers in the more common below-average years.
Water is obviously a prerequisite for keeping stock, and this is mostly provided by privately owned and
managed boreholes on freehold land. Rural water schemes in communal areas provide piped or
borehole water through government programs, which are subsequently handed over and managed by
community-based Water Point Associations.
Drought is defined in the National Drought Policy and Strategy (MAWRD 1995) as those years in which
an area receives the least amount of rain that occurs with a statistical probability of 1 out of 14 years, i.e.
7.1% of the time. So, in eastern Caprivi the annual totals in this category are less than 350 mm, while in
Windhoek they are less than about 150 mm. An event of this nature is supposed to trigger Drought
Relief from Government but it has a slow onset and the definition is difficult to apply rigorously. This
leads to drought relief being provided more often than the Policy suggests (annually in many cases), and
relief becoming a political tool rather than a provision of assistance when genuinely needed.
Soil. Namibia has very poor soils. Soils derived from rocky substrates in the south, central, and western
regions are generally shallow, have little moisture retention, and support relatively sparse vegetation.
Exceptions are along the thin lines of ephemeral river courses where vegetation is taller and denser. The
northern and eastern parts of the country are dominated by Kalahari sands which are extremely poor in
nutrients, do not hold moisture for long, and are low in organic matter.
Vegetation. Cattle are predominantly grazers and do best in areas where pastures are most abundant, in
the northern half of the county but excluding the very dry west. However, while they produce more meat
per hectare, the amount of available fodder is more variable as it is more closely dependent on rainfall.
The southern and western parts of the country offer little in the way of grass fodder, and these areas are
better suited for sheep and goats, also because dwarf shrubs are available over longer periods than
grasses.
The combination of soils, rainfall, and vegetation produce rangelands of relatively low productivity, and
carrying capacities are accordingly low (Figure 15).
USAID/NAMIBIA ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES ASSESSMENT 63